Springbok stars dominate South Africa Rugby Awards 2025 nominations

by Devesh Jaganath

image Springbok stars dominate South Africa Rugby Awards 2025 nominations
Last year was an incredible one for South African rugby, as we saw the Springboks successfully defend the Rugby Championship title for the first time ever before ending the year as the clear number-one-ranked team in the world. As a result, this year’s SA Player of the Year nominees are dominated by the Green and Gold.

Marx leads list of Boks nominees for SA Men’s Player of the Year 

The Springboks have been the benchmark of global rugby over the past few years, having claimed their fourth World Cup in 2023 and securing back-to-back Rugby Championships, confirming our rugby predictions in all three competitions. 

As a result, it is unsurprising to see that the 2025 SA Rugby Awards nominees are dominated by players who donned the famous Green and Gold over the past 12 months, led by Malcolm Marx, who was named World Rugby’s Men’s 15s Player of the Year for last year. 

However, while the Boks’ hooker is the favourite to claim the SA Rugby Men’s Player of the Year award, he faces stiff competition, starting with Pieter-Steph Du Toit, who is also a former SA Rugby and two-time World Rugby Player of the Year. 

The other three nominees include Sacha Feinburg-Mngomezulu, who is already considered one of the finest fly-halves in world rugby. Fan favourite Ox Nche and the marauding Jasper Wiese also made the cut. All five nominees were included in World Rugby’s 2025 Dream Team. 

Four of the five nominees for the Young Player of the Year award featured in Rassie Erasmus’s Test squads for 2025, including Feinburg-Mngomezulu, Ethan Hooker, Canan Moodie and Zachary Porthen. The fifth nominee is Hashim Pead, who was a standout in the Junior Boks’ World Rugby U20 Championship campaign. 

The strength of South Africa’s national teams is underscored by the nominations for the Coach and Team of the Year awards, with Erasmus and the Boks, Philip Snyman and the Blitzboks, and Kevin Foote and the Junior Boks all recognised. 

South Africa Rugby Awards 2025 Nominees

The nominees for the 2025 South Africa Rugby awards are: 

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

  • Byrhandre 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)