SFM joins two uncapped England hopefuls on Investec Player of the Year shortlist

Stormers and South Africa fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been nominated for the 2026 Investec Player of the Year award.

The 23-year-old is the only representative from South Africa, and joins a 10-player strong shortlist comprising three players from France, three from England, two from Scotland and one from Ireland.

After guiding the reigning champions to an unbeaten start to the competition and top seeding in the knockouts, Bordeaux-Begles’ Matthieu Jalibert and Louis Bielle-Biarrey have both been nominated alongside their compatriot Thomas Ramos, who is the competition’s top scorer this season – aided by his 27 points in Toulouse’s demolition of Sale Sharks at the weekend.

Ramos, with 53 points this season, boasts a two-point lead over Bath’s Finn Russell, who has also been nominated for the award, and is joined by his countryman Jack Dempsey, who was monumental in Glasgow Warriors’ manhandling of Saracens on Sunday.

Leinster captain Caelan Doris is the sole representative from Ireland.

Fixture

Investec Champions Cup

Northampton

17:00

3 Apr 26

Castres

All Stats and Data

England’s three nominees are perhaps the most interesting, as Bordeaux-bound Tom Willis is joined by the uncapped duo of Alfie Barbeary and George Hendy.

Bath No.8 Barbeary recorded his third player of the match accolade in a row in a victory over Edinburgh on Friday, while winger Hendy, 23, has been ever-present in the pool stages for Northampton Saints, scoring a hat-trick and being named player of the match in the round two victory over the Bulls. The pair will be on England head coach Steve Borthwick’s radar with the Six Nations approaching.

Despite his repeated Herculean efforts at the back of the scrum for Saracens, Willis will not feature in the Six Nations, as, though still eligible for England currently, he has not featured on the Test stage since agreeing a move to the Top 14 next season.

The nominees were selected by Simon Zebo, Dimitri Yachvili, Elma Smit, Ryan Wilson and Topsy Ojo. The public will be able to vote for the winner at epcrugby.com/ipoty, which will remain open until the end of the quarter-finals on Sunday, April 12.