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In rugby union, the Tom French Cup is an honour awarded by New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) to the Tom French Memorial Māori player of the year. The cup has been awarded annually since 1949, when it was donated to the New Zealand Māori coach Tom French while the team was on tour in Australia. French had represented Buller provincially, and was selected for New Zealand Maori in 1911. After the First World War, where he lost an arm at Passchendaele, French continued his involvement in rugby by serving as both a selector and administrator. In 1957 he was made a life member of the NZRU.

The inaugural recipient in 1949 was Johnny Smith, who played for New Zealand's national team the All Blacks, and captained them in two Tests that year. Keith Davis was the Tom French Cup winner in 1952–54, and played extensively for both the All Blacks and New Zealand Māori; his time with the Māori included matches against both South Africa in 1956, and the British Lions in 1959. The record for cup wins is held by Sid Going, who played half-back for both New Zealand Māori and the All Blacks, and was awarded the cup six times; won consecutively between 1967 and 1972. Tane Norton won the cup in 1973 and 74, and went on to finish his playing career as All Black captain—his 27 international Test caps were earned consecutively. 1987 Rugby World Cup winner Buck Shelford was awarded the cup in 1985, and 1987–89; Shelford captained North Harbour, New Zealand Māori, and the All Blacks. During his 14 Tests as captain of the All Blacks the team never lost. When Shelford was eventually dropped from the All Blacks, he was replaced at number eight by fellow Tom French Cup recipient Zinzan Brooke. Brooke was awarded the cup in both 1992 and 1994, and also captained the Blues to the 1996 and 1997 Super 12 titles.

Carl Hayman was awarded the Tom French Cup in both 2004 and 2006, and was instrumental in helping New Zealand Māori defeat the British and Irish Lions for the first time in 2005. Hayman played 45 Test matches for the All Blacks. Fellow All Black Piri Weepu won the cup in both 2008 and 2011. In 2011 he was a member of the World Cup winning All Blacks side, and was named man of the match in New Zealand's quarter-final victory over Argentina.

Winners

References

1. ^ Mulholland 2009, p. 28.
2. Frew 2012.
3. Keith Davis.
4. Mulholland 2009, p. 278.
5. Mulholland 2009, p. 176.
6. Mulholland 2009, p. 279.
7. Mulholland 2009, p. 280–282.
8. Carl Hayman.
9. Hinton 2011.
10. ^ 2011 Awards.
11. 2009 Awards.
12. 2010 Awards.
13. 2012 Awards.
14. 2013 Awards.
15. McKendry, Patrick (11 December 2014). "Retallick, Hansen and All Blacks the big winners in NZ rugby awards". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
16. Paul, Gregor (11 December 2015). "Nonu storms to top of NZ rugby awards". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
17. Burnes, Campbell (16 December 2016). "Barrett brothers our best at NZ rugby awards". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
18. "Black Ferns dominate rugby awards". RNZ Sport. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
19. "History made at 2018 ASB rugby awards". New Zealand Rugby. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
20. "Hirini becomes first wahine to win Māori player of the year". Te Ao Māori News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
21. "All Blacks captain Sam Cane ends tough year with top NZ Rugby award for 2020". Stuff.co.nz. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
22. Hinton, Marc (15 December 2021). "Black Ferns sevens skipper Sarah Hirini named New Zealand Rugby's player of year". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
23. "NZ Rugby Awards: Black Ferns triumph; three awards for Ruahei Demant". RNZ News. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
24. Hinton, Marc (14 December 2014). "Scott Robertson, Ian Foster overlooked at New Zealand Rugby awards". Stuff. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

Sources

• "2009 Steinlager Rugby Awards' winners". Television New Zealand. 17 December 2009. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
• Frew, Garry (30 October 2012). "Smith, John Burns". Dictionary of New Zealand Bibliography. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
• Hinton, Mark (9 October 2011). "Tough battle as All Blacks forced to dig deep by plucky Argentina". Retrieved 3 April 2013.
• "Kaino rewarded for big year at awards". The New Zealand Herald. 1 December 2011. Archived from the original on 3 April 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
• Knight, Lindsay. "Carl Hayman". New Zealand Rugby Museum. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
• Knight, Lindsay. "Keith Davis". New Zealand Rugby Museum. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
• Mulholland, Malcolm (2009). Beneath the Māori Moon – An Illustrated History of Māori Rugby. Huia Publishers. ISBN 978-1-86969-305-3.
• "Ray Watson, Liam Messam winners at Rugby Awards". Rotorua Daily Post. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
• McKendry, Patrick (5 December 2013). "Read, All Blacks, Hansen scoop top NZ rugby awards". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
• "Read named player of the year". Television New Zealand. 16 December 2010. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2013.

• Māori All Blacks
• Rugby union in New Zealand
• Māori sport