SA Rugby has announced the nominees – as voted for by members of the media and national teams coaching staff in nine categories – for the SA Rugby awards.
Malcolm Marx, who was named World Rugby’s Men’s 15s Player of the Year last year, is up against his Springbok team-mates Pieter-Steph du Toit, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ox Nche and Jasper Wiese for the prestigious SA Rugby’s Men’s Player of the Year Award for 2025, while last year’s local winner, Nadine Roos, has been nominated again for the Women’s Player of the Year Award.
The various winners will be announced in due course, along with the annual Referee of the Year, Provincial Women’s Player of the Year, Associate Member of the Year and the FNB Fans’ Moment of the Year awards.
Du Toit, a former winner of both SA Rugby and World Rugby’s top awards, and Nche were on the shortlist last year too, and both were also nominated for the World Rugby Award, while Feinberg-Mngomezulu, like the other four, was named in World Rugby’s 2025 Dream Team.
Wiese equally had a stellar season for the Boks and has been nominated for the first time for the top award in South African rugby.
Four previous winners – Roos, Aseza Hele, Libbie Janse van Rensburg, and Babalwa Latsha – were nominated for SA Rugby Women’s Player of the Year. The quartet, along with the fifth nominee, Byrhandré Dolf, all played key roles helping South Africa reach the Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in a watershed season for the Springbok Women.
Four of the five players nominated for the Young Player of the Year Award played Test rugby in 2025 – Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ethan Hooker, Canan Moodie and Zachary Porthen – while the fifth, Haashim Pead, played a key role for the Junior Boks in their World Rugby U20 Championship triumph.
Pead was also nominated in the category for Junior Springbok Player of the Year, along with SA U20 captain Riley Norton, and Cheswill Jooste, while the three nominees for the Springbok Sevens Men’s Player of the Year Award are Selvyn Davids, Shilton van Wyk and Impi Visser, all of whom were part of the Blitzbok squad that won the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles in May.
The success of South Africa’s national teams is reflected in the nominations for the Coach and Team of the Year Awards – Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks, Philip Snyman and the Blitzboks, and Kevin Foote and the Junior Boks, while Swys de Bruin also made the shortlist for the coach award after guiding the Bok Women to their best finish yet at a Rugby World Cup.
The nominees are (in alphabetical order):
SA Rugby Men’s Player of the Year
Pieter-Steph du Toit, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche, Jasper Wiese.
SA Rugby Women’s Player of the Year
Byrhandré Dolf, Aseza Hele, Libbie Janse van Rensburg, Babalwa Latsha, Nadine Roos.
SA Rugby Young Player of the Year
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Springboks / DHL Stormers), Ethan Hooker (Springboks / Hollywoodbets Sharks), Canan Moodie (Springboks / Vodacom Bulls), Haashim Pead (Junior Springboks / Lions), Zachary Porthen (Springboks / DHL Stormers).
Springbok Sevens Men’s Player of the Year
Selvyn Davids, Shilton van Wyk, Impi Visser
Junior Springbok Player of the Year
Cheswill Jooste, Riley Norton, Haashim Pead
Team of the Year
Junior Springboks, Springboks, Springbok Sevens
Coach of the Year
Swys de Bruin (Springbok Women), Rassie Erasmus (Springboks), Kevin Foote (Junior Springboks), Philip Snyman (Springbok Sevens).
Carling Currie Cup Premier Division
Player of the Year
Donavan Don (Sanlam Boland Kavaliers), Gurshwin Wehr (Suzuki Griquas), George Whitehead (Suzuki Griquas)
Carling Currie Cup First Division
Player of the Year
Keagan Fortune (Valke), Andrew Kota (NovaVit Griffons), Willem van den Hever (NovaVit Griffons)
Courtesy of SA Rugby.
