Find out who received the end of season accolades at the 2007/08 Guinness Premiership Awards.
Find out who received the end of season accolades...
It was the highlight of the rugby social calendar, an evening to celebrate those who have had a memorable season.
The 2008 Guinness Premiership Awards ceremony at Stamford Bridge saw the rugby fraternity turn out in their tuxedos, as the season draws to an end.
Wasps take on Leicester in Saturday's Guinness Premiership final, but for the rest the season has ended.
And what a great season it has been.
Here are the winners from the Guinness Premiership Awards:
Player of the season
Nominees: Olly Barkley (Bath), Danny Cipriani (Wasps), Akapusi Qera (Gloucester), Paul Sackey (Wasps), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester)
The gong went to Simpson-Daniel who was delighted to receive the award: "I've been around for quite a while now, had plenty of injuries, maybe not the form I would have wanted for England," he said.
"This is a disappointing season for Gloucester because we haven't won anything again, but I'm delighted to have received this award."
Sky Sports Premiership Dream Team
15 R Haughton (Saracens),
14 P Sackey (Wasps),
13 L McAlister (Sale Sharks),
12 O Barkley (Bath),
11 S Tagicakibau (London Irish),
10 D Cipriani (Wasps),
9 M Claassens (Bath);
1 N Wood (Gloucester),
2 L Mears (Bath),
3 M Stevens (Bath),
4 N Kennedy (London Irish),
5 D Grewcock (Bath, capt),
6 C Robshaw (Harlequins),
7 M Lipman (Bath),
8 T Guest (Harlequins)
Captain Danny Grewcock said: "My history of captaincy is pretty poor to be honest but you've named me a team that will never play a game so it's probably quite safe."
Director of Rugby of the season
Dean Ryan received the award ahead of Steve Meehan (Bath) and Dean Richards (Harlequins).
Ryan said: "Not to progress to the Guinness Premiership final was a big let down for us because we worked very hard. We've got a young group which is maturing and I think for a long time this year we have no excuses and we've got to deliver.
"This is probably the hardest and hopefully the biggest lesson that we'll learn and hopefully we'll come back stronger for it."
Top Try Scorer
Lesley Vainikolo (Glouscester) 9 tries, Miles Benjamin (Worcester) 9 tries, Matt Banahan (Bath) 10 tries, James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester) 10 tries, Tom Varndell (Leicester) 13 tries.
Leicester Tigers' Tom Varndell topped the chart with 13 tries.
Looking to make amends for the Tigers' Heineken Cup final defeat last season by beating Wasps in Saturday's Guinness Premiership final Varndell said: "It was disappointing last year not to win the Heineken Cup and obviously we owe Wasps a good game but we're looking forward to it and we're confident."
Golden Boot
Glen Jackson (Saracens) 169 points, Andy Goode (Leicester Tigers) 180 points, Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks) 201 points.
Charlie Hodgson receeved his award and is looking forward to returning for England in New Zealand.
Hodgson said: "It's been a good season for me considering only last year I was recovering from serious injury myself, one man's cruel luck (Cipriani) gives me an opportunity (in New Zealand).
"It's a massive opportunity for me to play for England again. Everybody knows it's going to be difficult - it's a tough ride down there - I've not ha happy experiences touring New Zealand and I don't think this is going to be any different.
"It's not going to be easy but we'll look top be confident, perform well and hopefully we can come away with some wins.
Discovery of the season
Matt Banahan (Bath), Danny Care (Harlequins), Danyy Cipriani (London Wasps), Ben Foden (Sale Sharks), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) were the nominees.
But the winner was, of course, Danny Cipriani. After breaking his ankle in the Guinness Premiership semi-final, Cipriani was not present to collect his award, but the
Rugby Club caught up with the fly-half beforehand.
"I'd like to thank my teammates for providing a good platform for me," he said, "I really enjoyed myself this season."
Team performance of the season
Bath v London Wasps, February 16 2008.
Bath went into the game with a 15 month unbeaten home record in the Guinness Premiership whilst Wasps needed a win of any sort to preserve their hopes of reaching the top four after a slow start to the season.
Despite Danny Cipriani's fine individual score early in the game Wasps were trailing by seven points at half-time before a remarkable second period.
An early James Haskell try set the tone and then Josh Lewsey flew over the line to secure a fantastic comeback and win 42-34.
London Wasps Director of Rugby, Ian McGeechan received the award with glowing praise for his players: "We knew after the first two months of the season we had a bit of work to do and actually I think we did well when the World Cup boys came back.
"The period during the Six Nations where we lost the players but kept winning was very important to us."
EDF Energy Player of the Season - Dave Walder, Wasps
EDF Energy Player of the Season, awarded to the player who has contributed the most off the field to all aspects of rugby life.
Dave Walder has been recovering from a broken leg he suffered in March but hasn't let that get in the way of his unstinting community work. A level two qualified coach, Dave has continued the work he started as a Newcastle player and has used his qualification to excellent effect in Wasps' club support programme.
He was so moved by working with a girl with impaired hearing that he completed a sign language course so he could communicate more effectively with her.
Dave epitomises the role professional rugby players can play by providing motivation and inspiration for all the children he meets.
He said: "It's nice to get awards but at the end of the day, the happiness and the smile on the face working with the kids brings to you when you're down is unbelievable.
"It's nice to give something back."
