South Africans dominate end-of-season URC awards

Springboks Evan Roos (Stormers) and Quan Horn (Lions) and fellow South African Chris Smith are among the five end-of-season BKT URC award winners revealed today.

Stormers No.8 Roos finished the regular URC campaign as the leading try scorer in the competition, having touched down 12 times. He ended up one clear of Ulster winger Zac Ward and two above Ward’s team-mate Werner Kok and Connacht No.8 Sean Jansen.

That sees Springbok Roos receive the OFX Top Try Scorer award, following in the footsteps of two hookers – Ulster’s Tom Stewart (2023) and Glasgow Warriors’ Johnny Matthews (2024) – and Cardiff’s Harri Millard (2025).

Giving his thoughts on Roos’ prolific finishing, Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson said: “He’s very fast and he also runs good support lines.

“He’s just a kid who enjoys rugby. He just wants the ball in his hands, he wants to play, he wants to tackle people.

“He’s like an old school rugby player. He’s ‘Yes coach, no coach, sorry coach, what do you want coach?’

“I think if rugby was an amateur sport, he’d still be playing exactly the same.

“He’s like a kid. He’s got humour, he giggles, he contributes, he’s fantastic. I love him.”

Smith, meanwhile, took home the Gilbert Golden Boot award for the second time, having won it in 2024 when with the Bulls.

The Lions fly-half kicked more points than anyone else in the regular league season, racking up 149 in all – made up of 17 penalties and 49 conversions. That saw him finish clear of his nearest rival, Stormers star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu who kicked 113 points.

The third South African award recipient, Horn, is also a multiple winner – of the Ironman award.

The league’s Mr Consistent played every single minute of the campaign (1,440 minutes), beating his previous best of 1,428 minutes, when he won the Ironman award in 2022/23.

Dragons’ Wales international lock, Ben Carter, picked up the IPVanish Tackle Machine award.

The prize goes to the player with the highest percentage accuracy among those who made 150-plus tackles during the regular season. Carter finished top of that list with a 97.6 per cent return, to round off a campaign to remember for the 25-year-old.

Meanwhile, USA-born, Aussie-raised utility back Jack Walsh has signed off from the Ospreys and the URC by winning the league’s Playmaker Award.

After four years with the Welsh region, he is leaving to join French club Montauban.

The prize recognises creativity, with three key metrics used to decide the winner – try assists, defenders beaten and successfully completed offloads.

Ospreys head coach Mark Jones said: “I didn’t know anything about Jack until I arrived here.

“He was a pretty young player at the time, in his early 20s. His appetite to get better and his thirst to improve as an individual was pretty evident from day one.

“He’s been a consummate professional. His preparation is top drawer, while his work ethic, both on and off the field, to make sure he was maximising his time has also been evident. That’s why we’ve seen the improvement in his all round game, both as a 15 and as a 10.

“He’s tough, if you look at how durable he is, and he’s very skilful. He’s made big progress.

“We are obviously disappointed that we can’t keep him in the building, but I fully understand his reasons why. He’s got a great opportunity to move overseas to a great climate with a team that’s recruiting pretty heavily.

“He’s an Australian and they like to travel and see the world. I wish him all the best and I am sure he will do a great job for Montauban.”

URC Awards Winners 2025-26
Gilbert Golden Boot: Chris Smith (Fidelity SecureDrive Lions)
IPVanish Tackle Machine: Ben Carter (Dragons RFC)
Ironman: Quan Horn (Fidelity SecureDrive Lions)
OFX Top Try Scorer: Evan Roos (DHL Stormers)
Playmaker: Jack Walsh (Ospreys)