It was a black victory at the 2012 Westpac Halberg Awards tonight - an All Black victory, as the Rugby World Cup winners took nearly all the top prizes at the annual sport honours.
Former All Blacks coach Graham Henry won the Sky Sport Coach of the Year Award, while All Blacks captain Richie McCaw won Westpac Sportsman of the Year and the All Blacks Westpac Team of the Year. The All Blacks also won the top prize, the Halberg Award, and New Zealand's Favourite Sporting Moment.
Winning the supreme award capped off the stellar night for the All Blacks. An overwhelmed skipper Richie McCaw said it showed the All Blacks huge effort during the world cup and throughout the build up to it, had touched everyone in New Zealand this year.
Other sports identities stayed in the game - shot putter Valerie Adams won Westpac Sportswoman of the Year honours for the sixth time, while swimmer Sophie Pascoe won the new Halbert Trust Disabled Sportsperson of the Year category.
According to organisers, it was the first time since the Silver Ferns netball team ran the table in 2003 that one team had won so many of the honours.
