Snyman Crowned URC Players’ Player of the Season

The Springbok second-rower is a one-of-a-kind athlete with his outstanding offload ability for a man standing 2.06m tall and weighing 117kg.

The 30-year-old is second in the league when it comes to offloads with 40, behind only Munster’s Tom Farrell (43), who won the Playmaker award earlier this week.

Snyman, who also won Leinster’s Player of the Year award, has been immense for the Irish giants in his first season at the club, helping them top of the table in the regular season and earn a home semi-final against the defending champion Glasgow Warriors this Saturday following their 33-21 quarter-final win over the Scarlets last weekend.

The Players’ Player of the Season award was voted on by the captain and vice-captain of all 16 teams, with all nominees required to have made a minimum of nine appearances.

One fellow player applauded Snyman’s “unique skillset” – branding him a “very tough” opponent. “A threat all over the park. Strong in the set-piece and has a unique skillset which makes him very tough to play against.”

Previous winners of this award include Munster’s Jack Crowley last season, Leinster’s Dan Sheehan back in 2022/23, and Stormers lose forward Evan Roos in 2021/22.

Meanwhile, Zebre Parma’s Massimo Brunello was named BKT Coach of the Season, bringing the curtain down on the 2024/25 URC Awards.

The award was voted for by the league’s head coaches, with Brunello receiving the recognition from his peers after transforming the Italian minnows this season and leading them to victories over Munster, Ospreys and the Dragons at home, as well as famous away wins against Ulster and Edinburgh.

Their away triumph over Ulster ended a four-year wait for a victory on the road and was backed up the following week with another away win against Edinburgh.

One of his fellow coaches said: “Massimo made Zebre even more competitive this season with some impressive wins on the road. These results made qualification for the top eight interesting until late in the competition.”

Previous winners of this award include Graham Rowntree last season, and Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith back in 2022/23.

URC Award Winners 2024-25:

Gilbert Golden Boot: Ioan Lloyd (Scarlets)

OFX Top Try Scorer: Harri Millard (Cardiff Rugby)

Tackle Machine: Ruben van Heerden (DHL Stormers)

Ironman: Cam Winnett (Cardiff Rugby)

Playmaker: Tom Farrell (Munster Rugby)

Elite XV: Jamie Osborne (Leinster Rugby), Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby), Tom Farrell (Munster Rugby), Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Blair Murray (Scarlets), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Craig Casey (Munster Rugby), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls), RG Snyman (Leinster Rugby), Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby), Jac Morgan (Ospreys), Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors), Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls)

Next-Gen Player of the Season: Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls)

Innovation Award: Hollywoodbets Sharks

Try of the Season Powered by URC.tv: Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers)

South African Vodacom URC Player of the Season: Sacha Feinburg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers)

BKT Coach of the Season: Massimo Brunello (Zebre Parma)

Players’ Player of the Season: RG Snyman (Leinster Rugby)