Cameron Hanekom shines in URC awards as South African players dominate Elite XV Team of the Season
UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP
The accolades keep rolling in for Bulls No 8, Cameron Hanekom, after a brilliant season. He was named in the URC Elite XV on Wednesday and scooped the Next-Gen Player award.
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South African players continue to dominate this season’s United Rugby Championship (URC) awards with no less than seven named in the URC Team of the Season on Wednesday.
Bulls No 8 Cameron Hanekom, also named as Next-Gen Player of the Season, alongside teammates props Wilco Louw and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Stormers’ flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and the Sharks’ Andre Esterhuizen made it into the Elite XV of the tournament.
The Bulls, playing in a consecutive semi-final on Saturday, and Munster lead the race with three players each in the side, while Leinster and the Scarlets follow with two. Double World Cup-winning Springbok, RG Snyman, is one of the Leinster players, and Bok hopeful, hooker Marnus van der Merwe, represents the Scarlets.
Hanekom, nominated for the SA URC Player of the Season award as well, has set the rugby field alight since his breakthrough last season and continued his fine form for the Bulls, despite some niggling injuries. Louw, nominated as SA URC Player of the Season, and Wessels have been the chief destroyers in the scrum for the Bulls.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu was a fresh breeze in the competition and has entertained supporters in the Stormers’ flyhalf jersey after taking over from the injured Manie Libbok. While an injury also impacted a part of his season, Esterhuizen has been a consistent performer in the backline of the Sharks throughout the season.
With two awards behind his name, Hanekom will look to make it a third for the vital SA Player when he goes up against Louw and Feinberg-Mngomezulu for it.
Another Stormers star of the past season received a URC accolade with lock Ruben van Heerden named as the Tackle Machine award winner. This award is given to the player who boasts the best tackle success rate among those who have attempted 150 or more tackles over the course of the season.
Van Heerden, who after two strong seasons still finds himself outside the Springbok discourse, made 171 tackles at a success rate of 98%. He had 11 more tackles than Rory Darge of the Warriors who currently has a 97% success rate. The Sharks’ Phepsi Buthelezi was in third with 157 tackles and an accuracy of 96.82%.
Van Heerden and Sharks’ utility back Ethan Hooker can count themselves unlucky after missing out on the Elite XV after some stellar performances for their franchises.
URC Awards Winners 2024-25
Gilbert Golden Boot: Ioan Lloyd (Scarlets)
OFX Top Try Scorer: Harri Millard (Cardiff)
Tackle Machine: Ruben van Heerden (Stormers)
Ironman: Cam Winnett (Cardiff)
Playmaker: Tom Farrell (Munster)
Elite XV: 15 Jamie Osborne (Leinster), 14 Darcy Graham (Edinburgh), 13 Tom Farrell (Munster), 12 André Esterhuizen (Sharks), 11 Blair Murray (Scarlets), 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), 9 Craig Casey (Munster), 8 Cameron Hanekom (Bulls), 7 Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors), 6 Jac Morgan (Ospreys) 5 RG Snyman (Leinster) 4 Tadgh Beirne (Munster), Wilco Louw (Bulls), 2 Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets) Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls).
Next-Gen Player of the Season: Cameron Hanekom (Bulls)