New Zealand captain Richie McCaw was named the International Rugby Board player of the year last night as the All Blacks swept the board at the awards presentation.
The fiercely competitive and destructive flanker was at the heart of his country's Tri-Nations success and victorious European tour, which included record victories over England and France.
A panel of former players voted for the All Blacks flanker, 25, Irish lock Paul O'Connell, Dan Carter - last year's winner - Australia's Chris Latham and Springbok Fourie du Preez.
New Zealand were named team of the year and Graham Henry coach of the year while France's flyhalf Lionel Beauxis was named under-21 player of the year and Australia's Josh Holmes under-19 player of the year.
The awards take into account the test calendar from January to the end of November 2006 and include the Six Nations championship, Tri-Nations and June and November Tests.
The winners were selected by a panel made up of former internationals with 503 caps between them - Francois Pienaar, Michael Jones, Fabien Galthie, Keith Wood, Gavin Hastings, Jonathan Davies, Dan Lyle and Federico Mendez, and convener John Eales.
