PART I: PLAYERS
===============

1. SARACENS PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

1st - Cobus Visagie
2nd - Tevita Vaikona
3rd - Hugh Vyvyan

Large's choice - Cobus. Even when he wasn't playing he was working with our ever-improving front row corps.

2. SARACENS YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

1st - Dave Seymour
2nd - Ben Broster

Large's Choice - Seymour. However, if there was a most improved player award (and there will be next season), it would go to Broster who deserves his Wales call-up.

3. ZURICH PREMIERSHIP (non Sarries) PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

1st - Andy Goode
2nd - Mark Cueto
3rd = Lawrence Dallaglio, Sebastien Chabal

Large's Choice - Pat Sanderson for the way he led by example at Worcester.

4. INTERNATIONAL (non-English) PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

1st - Martyn Williams
2nd = Gavin Henson, Richie McCaw

Large's Choice - A couple of you agreed with me here when you said Tom Shanklin. Wales' unsung hero in Grand Slam year.

5. FAVOURITE SARACENS PLAYER:

1st - Richard Hill
2nd = Tevita Vaikona, Thomas Castaignede

Large's Choice - This season it's Mr Versatile, Mr Consistency, Mr 100%: Mark Bartholomeusz

6. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN OPPOSITION PLAYER AGAINST SARACENS:

1st - Mark Mapletoft
2nd = Ayoola Erinle, Sebastien Chabal
Honourable mention - Martin Corry for getting himself sent off at VR

Large's Choice - I thought Nick Easter for Quins in THAT game was brilliant, ditto Adam Balding for Glaws at HQ.

7. LEAST FAVOURITE OPPOSITION PLAYER:
The Rogues Gallery will have a new look to it next season as good old Johnno is hanging up his boots and, presumably, his Pantomime Villain costume.

1st - Martin Johonson
2nd - Matt Dawson
3rd - Lawrence Dallaglio

Large's Choice - Neil Back; when he's good, he's brilliant. When he's bad, he's still brilliant. Damn the man!


8. PLAYER YOU'D MOST LIKE TO JOIN SARRIES FOR NEXT SEASON OTHER THAN JONNY BLOODY WILKINSON:

Blimey, Sarries fans are a pragmatic bunch and although there was the usual smattering of superstar backs like O'Driscoll, Daniel Carter and Josh Lewsey, it is telling that you voted for no fewer than NINE locks, all but one of whom (Victor Matfield) are plying their trade in the English Premiership. You could swear that Sarries are short of a few second rows or something.

1st - Simon Shaw
2nd = Stuart Hooper, Alex Brown, Josh Lewsey

Large's Choice - Gethin Jenkins. Another ball carrier to complement the likes of Cheney and Raiwalui


PART II: CLUBS
==============

1. BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SARACENS TEAM:

1st - Leiceter home
2nd - Bath away
3rd = Wasps at HQ, Newcastle home (league)

Large's Choice - Though Sarries tackled their hearts out and won with sheer guts down at Bath, for me it has to be that mugging of the Tigers.

2. WORST PERFORMANCE BY A SARACENS TEAM:
Predictable this year. Three stinkers against Irish and the worst ever first half in Saracens' professional history at Quins.

1st - Quins away
2nd - Irish home
3rd - Irish away

Large's Choice - Coming second in the bog snorkelling at Parma was a low point. Alomst as low as that fateful night at the Stoop.


3. FAVOURITE CLUB TO VISIT FOR AN AWAY GAME:

1st - Northatmpon
2nd = Worcester, Bath, London Irish

Large's Choice - The best welcome I received this season was at Northampton. And it was there I saw Wales beat England on the big screen. Tidy.

4. LEAST FAVOURITE CLUB TO VISIT FOR AN AWAY GAME:

1st - Leicester
2nd - Sale
3rd = Irish, Quins, Wasps, Gloucester

Large's Choice - Sale again. The place has absolutely nothing going for it. Not even the comedy value of the Pineapple public house.

5. BEST OPPOSITION FANS:
(Predictable as ever for first)

1st - London Irish
2nd - Worcester
3rd = Gloucester, Harlequins
Honourable mention - The 10 Parma fans who made the trip to Watford

6. WORST OPPOSITION FANS:
(You knew this was coming, didn't you?)

1st - Leicester
2nd = Gloucester, Harlequins

Large's Choice - Tigs. They certainly don't like it when their boys get a dose of their own medicine. Or get stuffed in the game that really matters.

7. FAVOURITE ZP TEAM (NON-SARACENS):

1st - London Irish
2nd - Worcester
3rd - Wasps

Large's Choice- Wasps again for me this year, purely because they play the best rugby, both offensively and defensively.

8. LEAST FAVOURITE TEAM:

1st - Leicester
2nd = Sale, London Irish, Harlequins

Large's choice - Leicester, though I am surprised there was only one vote for our insect friends down the road.

9. BEST BAR:

1st - Northampton
2nd - Harlequins
3rd - Gloucester

Large's Choice - Leeds. Though it was a shame we had a Friday nighter there and couldn't stay longer.

10. WORST BAR:

1st = Vicarage Road, Wasps
3rd - Bath

Large's Choice - Newcastle for its utterly dreadful service. I was so mad that I didn't even taste the beer for which I spent 10 minutes being ignored while those around me were being served as they walked up to the bar.

11. BEST 'SOLIDS':

1st - Harleqins
2nd - Twickenham
3rd - Worcester

Large's choice - those gorgeous pasties at Worcester by a mile

12. WORST 'SOLIDS':

1st - Vicarage Road
2nd- Northampton
3rd - Twickenham

Large's choice - Twickenham.

PART III: MISCELLANEOUS
=======================

1. BEST CONTRIBUTION TO THESARACENS.COM MESSAGE BOARD:
A hotly-contested category this season with yours truly not even in the frame!

1st - TonyTaff and his seemingly endless supply of coats
2nd - fbl and his seemingly endless laughter lol
3rd = Big H for his wit and rumours, Woodford Dave for his ability to start threads that go on a long time, Zoot for his photos
Honourable mention - Anything that doesn't include Mornington bloody Crescent

Large's Choice - Bit left field, I know, but my vote goes to that Tigers fan called Gez for making my cry with laughter the more he/she got angry after we beat Leicester at VR.

2. BEST SARRIES RUGBY MOMENT OF THE SEASON:

1st - Kris Chesney's try v Newcastle in the league game
2nd - Beating Gloucester to get into the Heineken Cup
3rd = Sarries Beating Leicester, Ben Russell beating (up) Martin Johnson
Honourable mention: Rod Kafer leaving (meeeaaaooow)

Large's Choice - in all the post-season play-off hoo-ha, the first ever win at Kingsholm was missed. But not by me.

3. FUNNIEST ON-FIELD RUGBY MOMENT OF THE SEASON:

1st - Ben Russell's set-to with Martin Johnson
2nd - Chesney flattening Matt Burke on the way to that try mentioned above
3rd - The Parma prop who had more changes of shorts than McNab had lagers during that European Challenge Cup game at VR.

Large's Choice - Watching the Glaws reaction when David Rose ran to those posts at Kingsholm to award the penalty try that gave us that win.

4. FUNNIEST NON-RUGBY MOMENT OF THE SEASON:

1st - Steve Diamond's performance at the Question of Sport event
2nd - When one of the Starlites fell on her backside during a half time routine
3rd - Steve Diamond's post-match interview after beating Leicester.

Large's choice: The Ieuan Evans/Rory Underwood Phoenix From the Flames sequence at the QoS night. I was crying. Literally.

5. BEST REFEREE:

1st - Chris White
2nd - Tony Spreadbury
3rd - Ashley Rowden

Large's Choice - has to be Rowden, if only for him having the bottle to award a penalty try against Leicester at Welford Road.

6. WORST REFEREE:
I feel a bit sorry for the bloke who came joint-second (no, not Maybank)in this category. Particularly as he had not even been near a Saracens game all season.

1st - Steve Lander
2nd = Steve Leyshon, Roy Maybank
Honourable mention - Jean-Pierre Matheu over in Parma for sin-binning Mosese Rauluni when he - get this - shouted "numbers, Ref!" as Parma had an extra man at a line-out.

Large's choice - Dave Pearson for not having the bottle to award Saracens a penalty try at Leicester.

7. BEST MEDIA PERFORMANCE BY A RUGBY CELEBRITY OR BROADCASTER:

1st - Thomas Castaignede for his multi-media persona - Sky TV, Weakest Link, Guardian Column
2nd - Brian Moore
3rd = Nigel Redman "The Front Line", John Inverdale, BBC 3 Counties Commentary (Simon Ward, presumably) Miles Harrison

Large's choice - John Wells for an open, honest and frank summing up of the Saracens v Tigers game.

8. WORST MEDIA PERFORMANCE BY A RUGBY CELEBRITY OR BROADCASTER

The Sky Sports duopoly reigns supreme this year. Barnes or Morris? Barnes AND Morris? Tweedledum and Tweedledumber get the treatment, though the usual suspects were in there too - Guscott, Ackford, Butler et al. and a newcomer to this category: Will "Billy Bumface" Carling

1st - Stuart Barnes
2nd = Dewi Morris with Barnes. Morris without Barnes

Large's Choice - Guscott. I've still yet to hear him praise anyone.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon