Bok stars to battle for SA Rugby's top gong
NEWS: Springboks stars are dominating the SA Rugby Awards 2025, with Malcolm Marx, who was named World Rugby’s Men’s 15s Player of the Year last year, up against his teammates for the SA Rugby’s Men’s Player of the Year Award.
Marx, along with Pieter-Steph du Toit, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ox Nche and Jasper Wiese, has been nominated for the prestigious SA Rugby’s Men’s Player of the Year Award for 2025.
The nominees for the SA Rugby Men’s Player of the Year are Pieter-Steph du Toit, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche, and Jasper Wiese 🤝#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold #SARugbyAwards pic.twitter.com/9KXotQNbj2
— Springboks (@Springboks) January 16, 2026
Last year’s winner, Cheslin Kolbe, will not retain his crown after missing out on nominations.
Last year’s local winner, Nadine Roos, has been nominated again for the Women’s Player of the Year Award.
SA Rugby announced the nominees – as voted for by members of the media and national teams’ coaching staff – in nine categories on Friday.
The various winners will be announced in due course, along with the annual OUTsurance 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.
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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 quarterfinals for the first time in a watershed season for the Springbok Women.
Byrhandré Dolf, Aseza Hele, Libbie Janse van Rensburg, Babalwa Latsha, and Nadine Roos have been nominated for the SA Rugby Women’s Player of the Year Award 💚💛#BokWomen #SARugbyAwards pic.twitter.com/WtxFahnFEK
— SA Women’s Rugby (@WomenBoks) January 16, 2026
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.
On the Currie Cup front, Griquas’ success in the Premier Division is underlined by nominations for Gurshwin Wehr and George Whitehead, who are up against the Boland Kavaliers’ Donavan Don, and in the First Division, the Griffons duo of Andrew Kota and Willem van den Hever will face a stern contest from Keagan Fortune of the Falcons.
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 / Stormers)
- Ethan Hooker (Springboks / Sharks)
- Canan Moodie (Springboks / Bulls)
- Haashim Pead (Junior Springboks / Lions)
- Zachary Porthen (Springboks / 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)
Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year
- Donavan Don (Boland Kavaliers)
- Gurshwin Wehr (Griquas)
- George Whitehead (Griquas)
Carling Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year
- Keagan Fortune (Falcons)
- Andrew Kota (Griffons)
- Willem van den Hever (Griffons)
Fans’ Moments of the Year
- The Springboks’ defence of the Rugby Championship title
- The Springbok Women’s best-ever performance at a Rugby World Cup
- The Springboks’ unbeaten run on the Outgoing Tour in November
- The Junior Springboks winning the World Rugby U20 Championship
- The Springboks’ record victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand
- The Springbok Sevens winning the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles
