Roberts Named HSBC Player Of The Series
Cardiff Blues and Wales centre Jamie Roberts has been named as the HSBC Player of the Series, following the three Tests between the Springboks and the British & Irish Lions.
Jamie Roberts played in the opening two Tests before sitting out the third due to a wrist injury picked up in Pretoria.
The 22-year-old’s centre partnership with Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll developed into a potent attacking weapon for the Lions.
“I’m delighted to be named as the HSBC Player of the Series,” Roberts said.
“This tour has been a brilliant experience and I would like to dedicate this award to the hard work and effort put in by a lot of people in the Lions squad and management.”
Before the third Test, Lions assistant coach Warren Gatland, who is Roberts’ national coach in Wales, gave his assessment of the man who terrorised the Springbok centres in Durban and Pretoria.
“Jamie has been one of the most improved players on the tour and it has been great for him to play inside Brian,” said Gatland.
“Before Brian left for home I thanked him for developing Jamie so much. He just laughed and said, ‘I hope he hasn’t learned too much’.
“They formed a very strong partnership for us and they complimented each other so well.”
The vote to find the HSBC layer of the Series was conducted by Lions’ Principal Partners HSBC, in conjunction with the members of the British & Irish media who have followed the tour.
Roberts led the voting, which was done after each of the 10 tour games, with England’s Simon Shaw second and Ireland winger Tommy Bowe third.