The ten finalists for the prestigious SARU Rugby Player of the Year 2012 have been finalised, following a new public consultation process in conjunction with the votes of rugby media. King Edward VII School Old Boy, Bryan Habana is one of the 10 finalists!

The rugby public nominated and voted for players on the Springboks’ Facebook page and will now have a decisive say in determining which of the ten top-rated players will be crowned on 1 November, when the SARU Rugby Player of the Year Awards Function is held in Cape Town.

The public are urged to use this platform again and vote for the player they feel has achieved most in the 2012 South African rugby season. Voting closes on Wednesday, 24 October at noon.

The ten finalists (in alphabetical order) are: Willem Alberts, Keegan Daniel, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Bryan Habana, Elton Jantjies, Siya Kolisi, Pat Lambie and JP Pietersen. RED Community lets get voting for our man, Bryan! Congratulations to Bryan on his selection, already a great honour.

Michael Fridjhon (Class of 1970) wins 2012 Louis Roederer International Wine Columnist of the Year Award. The presentation took place in the Ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel on Park Lane and was attended by wine writers, journalists, artists, members of the wine trade and publishers from around the world. Entries in 2012 from International Writers, was up by 1/3 and the Book category was huge, adding to the Judges already heavy workload!

Michael Fridjhon has been the Business Day’s wine columnist since the paper’s inception 27 years ago. No-one outside the UK has won the International Columnist Award before. The winners leading up to Michael are Anthony Rose, Tim Atkin M.W., Andrew Jefford and Victoria Moore in that order.

He is chairman of the judges at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show and judge at numerous other competitions including the international Wine and Spirit Competition (UK), the Australian National Wine Show, the Tri-Nations Challenge as well as benchmark tastings in France, the United States, Chile and South Africa. Author, co-author and contributor to a number of wine books including The Oxford Companion to Wine, ICONS (SA), The Global Wine Encyclopaedia, and John Platter (SA).

The winners in 2012 are:

Category 1 – The Artistry of Wine Award 2012
– Colin Hampden-White

Category 2 – Emerging Wine Writer of the Year 2012
– Erika Szymanski for www.palatepress.com

Category 3 – Online Wine Columnist / Blogger of the Year 2012
– Andrew Jefford for www.decanter.com

Category 4 – International Wine Website of the Year 2012
– Peter Liem for www.champagneguide.net

Category 5 – International Wine Publication of the Year 2012
The World of Fine Wine Johanna Wilson, Publisher, and Dr. Neil Beckett, Editor

Category 6 – Regional Wine Writer of the Year 2012
– Tom Bruce-Gardyne Articles from The Glasgow Herald

Category 7 – International Wine Book of the Year 2012
– Summer in a Glass Evan Dawson

Category 8 – International Wine Columnist of the Year 2012
– Michael Fridjhon Columns from Business Day, South Africa

Category 9 – International Wine Feature Writer of the Year 2012
– John Stimpfig The Financial Times How to Spend It

Congratulations to King Edward VII School Old Boy, Michael on this fantastic achievement!