Premiership Rugby Director of Rugby of the Season

Premiership Rugby Director of Rugby of the Season
Awarded forThe most outstanding Director of Rugby in each given Premiership Rugby season
Sponsored byLondon Pride
CountryEngland
Presented byPremiership Rugby
First award1998–99
Currently held byJohann van Graan (Bath)
Highlights
Most awardsMark McCall (5)
Most team winsLeicester Tigers and Saracens (5)

The Premiership Rugby Director of Rugby of the Season is an annual rugby union award presented to coaches in England, which recognises the most outstanding director of rugby in the Premiership each season.

The first Director of Rugby of the Season award was given to Northampton Saints coach Ian McGeechan as part of the 1998–99 end of season awards.

Mark McCall has won the award a record five times, all with Saracens. Rob Baxter is the only other coach to have won the award more than once.

Following the 2024–25 season, the award was presented as part of The Rugby Awards, joining Premiership Rugby, the Rugby Players' Association (RPA), Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) and the Rugby Football Union (RFU). A shortlist is chosen by a panel consisting of members of the RPA and the media, and the recipient is chosen by the public.[1]

The current holder of the award is Bath's Johann van Graan.

Winners

Key
Director of rugby (X) Name of the director or rugby and number of times they had won the award at that point (if more than one)
§ Denotes the club were Premiership Rugby champions in the same season
Premiership Rugby Director of Rugby of the Season winners
Season Director of rugby Nationality Club Ref(s)
1998–99 Ian McGeechan Scotland Northampton Saints [2]
1999–2000 Andy Robinson England Bath [3]
2000–01 Dean Richards England Leicester Tigers§ [4]
2001–02 Conor O'Shea Ireland London Irish [5]
Brendan Venter South Africa
2002–03 Warren Gatland New Zealand Wasps§ [6]
2003–04 John Connolly Australia Bath [7]
2004–05 John Wells England Leicester Tigers [8]
2005–06 Philippe Saint-André France Sale Sharks§ [9]
2006–07 Pat Howard Australia Leicester Tigers§ [10]
2007–08 Dean Ryan England Gloucester [11]
2008–09 Richard Cockerill England Leicester Tigers§ [12]
2009–10 Andy Key England Leeds [13]
2010–11 Jim Mallinder England Northampton Saints [14]
2011–12 Rob Baxter England Exeter Chiefs [15]
2012–13 Mark McCall Ireland Saracens [16]
2013–14 Mark McCall (2) Ireland Saracens [17]
2014–15 Mike Ford England Bath [18]
2015–16 Mark McCall (3) Ireland Saracens§ [19]
2016–17 Dai Young Wales Wasps [20]
2017–18 Dean Richards (2) England Newcastle [21]
2018–19 Mark McCall (4) Ireland Saracens§ [22]
2019–20 Rob Baxter (2) England Exeter Chiefs§ [23]
2020–21 Pat Lam Samoa Bristol Bears [24]
2021–22 Steve Borthwick England Leicester Tigers§ [25]
2022–23 Mark McCall (5) Ireland Saracens§ [26]
2023–24 Phil Dowson England Northampton Saints§ [27]
2024–25 Johann van Graan South Africa Bath§ [28]

Multiple award winners

The following table lists the number of awards won by directors of rugby who have won at least two Director of Rugby of the Season awards.

Awards Director of rugby Country Seasons
5 Mark McCall Ireland 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2018–19, 2022–23
2 Rob Baxter England 2011–12, 2019–20

Awards won by nationality

Country Directors of rugby Total
England 12 13
Ireland 2 6
Australia 2 2
South Africa 2 2
Scotland 1 1
New Zealand 1 1
France 1 1
Wales 1 1
Samoa 1 1

Awards won by club

Club Directors of rugby Total
Leicester Tigers 5 5
Saracens 1 5
Bath 4 4
Northampton Saints 3 3
Wasps 2 2
Exeter Chiefs 1 2
London Irish 2 1
Sale Sharks 1 1
Gloucester 1 1
Leeds 1 1
Newcastle 1 1
Bristol Bears 1 1

See also

References

  1. ^ "PREM Rugby | The Rugby Awards - Shortlists revealed". premiershiprugby.com. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  2. ^ "Rugby Union: Leicester's Johnson is player of season". The Independent. 19 May 1999. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  3. ^ "Healey named player of the year". ESPN.com. 24 May 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  4. ^ "Howard grabs two awards". ESPN.com. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  5. ^ "Robinson and Moody scoop Zurich accolades". ESPN.com. 21 May 2002. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  6. ^ Standard (13 April 2012). "Gatland and Leonard pick up awards". The Standard. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  7. ^ "Shaw named player of season". 24 May 2004. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  8. ^ Rees, Paul (5 May 2005). "Corry named player of the season". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  9. ^ "Catt picks up Premiership honour". 24 May 2006. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  10. ^ "Castrogiovanni lands award - The British & Irish Lions Website". www.lionsrugby.com. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  11. ^ "Simpson-Daniel claims Premiership award". ESPN.com. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  12. ^ "Robshaw takes top award". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  13. ^ Kitson, Robert (18 May 2010). "Northampton's Chris Ashton wings in with player of the season award". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  14. ^ "The Aviva Premiership Rugby Award Winners". Rugby World. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  15. ^ "Harlequins and England captain Chris Robshaw is player of season". The Guardian. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  16. ^ "Leicester's Tom Youngs named Premiership player of the season". BBC Sport. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  17. ^ "Mike Brown named Premiership Player of Season". The Independent. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  18. ^ "Bath's George Ford is named Premiership Player of the Season". The Guardian. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  19. ^ "Alex Goode: Saracens full-back wins Premiership player of the year award". BBC Sport. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  20. ^ "Jimmy Gopperth: Wasps utility back wins coveted Premiership award". BBC Sport. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  21. ^ "Goneva crowned Premiership POTY". ESPN.com. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  22. ^ "Danny Cipriani: Gloucester fly-half wins Premiership Player of the Season award". BBC Sport. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  23. ^ "PREM Rugby | Premiership Rugby Awards 2020 - click here for all the winners". premiershiprugby.com. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  24. ^ "PREM Rugby | Pat Lam wins Global Reach Director of Rugby of the Season award". premiershiprugby.com. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  25. ^ "PREM Rugby | Borthwick dedicates London Pride Director of Rugby of the Season award to his team". premiershiprugby.com. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  26. ^ "PREM Rugby | Mark McCall named Director of Rugby of the Season". premiershiprugby.com. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  27. ^ "PREM Rugby | Premiership Rugby Awards: Phil Dowson named Director of Rugby of the Season". premiershiprugby.com. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  28. ^ "PREM Rugby | Van Graan is Director of Rugby of the Season". premiershiprugby.com. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
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