Chris Smith, Evan Roos and Quan Horn secure URC awards
· Citizen
Lions players Chris Smith and Quan Horn and Stormers eighthman Evan Roos received three of five awards announced by the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Tuesday, with the competition winding down towards its conclusion.
Smith picked up the Golden Boot award for best kicker of the competition, Horn the Ironman award for playing the most minutes, and Evan Roos the Top Try Scorer award, all during the regular season which came to an end with the conclusion of the pool stage a few weeks ago.
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Golden Boot – Chris Smith
It’s a case of practice makes perfect for flyhalf Smith, who picked up his second Golden Boot award, after first claiming the accolade with the Bulls in the 2023-24 season.
Smith secured the prize by kicking 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 well clear of his nearest rival, Stormers star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu who kicked 113 points.
“You do really have to put the work in. It’s a daily work-on and you have to focus on the small things and the detail to be able to kick at a good percentage,” Smith said.
“There’s no specific number of kicks or routine that I do every single week. I probably go more on feeling than I want to kick 100 kicks this week. I focus on rhythm and build it up towards the game. If I feel really good and have hit some good ones, then I will stop.”
Smith was also quick to acknowledge the debt of gratitude he owed to his kicking coach at the Lions – former Springboks and Bulls great Morne Steyn.
“You honestly couldn’t have a much better mentor. He’s probably one of the best ball strikers the game has ever seen. He ranks right up there. To be able to learn from him has been priceless. That’s been quite special.”
Ironman – Quan Horn
Another player to pick up an award for the second time was dependable Lions fullback Horn, who landed the Ironman gong again after picking it up in the 2022-23 season.
Horn eclipsed his record from that first win, when he played 1,428 minutes while starting every one of the Lions’ pool games that season, while this campaign saw him finish with a perfect 1,440 minutes of game time after playing the full 80 of every single match until the play-offs.
It’s been a remarkable effort from the 24-year-old Springbok who said: “As a player, being part of the match-day 23 ignites confidence knowing you are backed week in and week out.”
A word too for Stormers wing Leolin Zas who was just 10 minutes behind Horn, having also started every regular season game in the league.
Top Try Scorer – Evan Roos
Roos has been dubbed an “old school” character who just enjoys playing rugby – and what he’s particularly enjoyed doing this season is scoring tries.
The Stormers No 8 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 wing Zac Ward and two above Ward’s team-mate Werner Kok and Connacht eighthman Sean Jansen.
The 26-year-old Springbok set the tone for what was to come by crossing twice in the opening game of the URC season against Leinster while there was to be another double versus Edinburgh in March.
His table-topping tally also included tries against Ospreys, Scarlets, Lions, Bulls, Dragons, Connacht, Glasgow Warriors and Ulster.
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.”
As for the man himself, eight-cap Springbok Roos confirmed how much he relished his rugby role: “I am just enjoying it. It’s fun. The tries are just a nice bonus for me.”
Other awards
Two more accolades were announced for the URC’s Tackle Machine and Playmaker, which went to Dragons lock Ben Carter and Ospreys flyhalf Jack Walsh respectively.
The Tackle Machine prize goes to the player with the highest percentage accuracy among those who made 150-plus tackles during the regular season, which Carter managed with a success of 97.6%.
The Playmaker prize recognises creativity, with three key metrics used to decide the winner – try assists, defenders beaten and successfully completed offloads.
Other awards are set to be announced over the rest of the week to conclude the list for the 2025/26 season, with the URC’s Elite XV, Next-Gen Player of the Season, Innovation Award, Try of the Season, South African URC Player of the Season, Coach of the Season, and Players’ Player of the Season winners all set to be announced before this weekend’s semifinals.
