South Africans have dominated the URC 2025-26 season awards, with Ivan van Rooyen and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu now added to the list.
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen was named URC Coach of the Season on Friday. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile/Getty Images
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen and Stormers star playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu were richly rewarded by their peers as they were named United Rugby Championship (URC) Coach of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season respectively on Friday.
It continues South Africa’s domination of the annual URC awards for the 2025-26 campaign, with a number of other players having been rewarded earlier this week.
Lions players Chris Smith and Quan Horn picked up the Golden Boot and Ironman awards, Evan Roos clinched the Top Try Scorer gong and Embrose Papier was named South African URC player of the season.
Nine SA players, with eight based in the country, were picked in the URC Elite XV, namely flyhalf Feinberg-Mngomezulu, eighthman Roos and prop Ntuthuko Mchunu from the Stormers, fullback Horn and loose forward Ruan Venter from the Lions, scrumhalf Papier, lock Cobus Wiese and hooker Johan Grobbelaar from the Bulls, and Ulster wing Werner Kok.
Coach of the Season – Ivan van Rooyen
The stats speak for themselves when it comes to the job Van Rooyen has done at the Lions this season. He has overseen a major step up in his team’s performances and that has resulted in him being chosen for the accolade.
The 44-year-old South African finished in top spot following a poll of the head coaches and directors of rugby in the competition. It’s a reward which acknowledges the strides the Lions have made under him.
Last season, they finished 11th in the URC on 40 points, with eight victories from their 18 matches. This term, they claimed 10 wins and a draw to rack up 54 points and finish seventh, thereby qualifying for the play-offs for the first time and securing a place in the Champions Cup.
They also scored the second most points (532) and the third most tries (73) in the league, demonstrating their attacking potency.
Plus, in a real landmark achievement, they won the South African Shield for delivering the best results overall in the domestic derbies, with four victories out of six, including notable triumphs away to the Bulls and Sharks.
Consistency is key
So, just what does Van Rooyen put the obvious advances his team has made down to?
“It’s probably just consistency, an alignment in what we want to do, what does it look like and what does it take,” he explained.
“The more clear you are about what you want to do and your identity, the easier it is. A lot of the time, you want to look at the outcome, but you must look at the process and what made the difference or what had the effect.
“I think the coaches and the players are really aligned about what we want and what we need. The players have also got more experience now. I am extremely proud of the hard work and effort that has been put in by everyone.”
In explaining their choice of Van Rooyen for the award, fellow coaches pointed to his team performing above expectations, the great achievement of winning the South African Shield and the entertaining brand of rugby they play.
Players’ Player of the Season – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
You only have to listen to the praise heaped on Feinberg-Mngomezulu by his fellow players to know what a very special talent he is. The Stormers flyhalf was selected from a poll of the captains and vice-captains from the 16 URC teams.
In outlining their motivations for selecting him, they talked about his x-factor moments, his game-changing ability, his all-round threat and how beautiful he is to watch. The 24-year-old Springbok star has certainly had some season.
He was the top points scorer in the regular URC campaign with 158, while he was also second for goal kicking (113), third for defenders beaten (54) and in the top six for tries scored (9), clean breaks (20) and metres gained (762).
Stormers director of rugby John Dobson said: “I think he is a generational player. We are going to enjoy him for a while to come.
“He has grown up very quickly from being the x-factor playing off the cuff guy to taking the responsibility of driving the team.
“When he first came along, it was almost like a party impact, to do something crazy. Now he has got to drive the team forward before his own stuff and he has definitely matured. He is the most vocal guy on the field.
“You think it’s all this natural ability, but his work ethic and his detail is magnificent. He spends a lot of time previewing the opposition, looking at what their triggers are.”
