Premiership Rugby Director of Rugby of the Season

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.

The current holder of the award is Northampton Saints' Phil Dowson.

Winners +KeyDirector of rugby 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 winnersSeasonDirector of rugbyNationalityClubRef(s)1998–99Northampton Saints1999–2000Bath2000–01Leicester Tigers2001–02London Irish2002–03Wasps2003–04Bath2004–05Leicester Tigers2005–06Sale Sharks2006–07Leicester Tigers2007–08Gloucester2008–09Leicester Tigers2009–10Leeds2010–11Northampton Saints2011–12Exeter Chiefs2012–13Saracens2013–14 Saracens2014–15Bath2015–16 Saracens2016–17Wasps2017–18 Newcastle2018–19 Saracens2019–20 Exeter Chiefs2020–21Bristol Bears2021–22Leicester Tigers2022–23 Saracens2023–24Northampton Saints2024–25Bath2025–26 Northampton Saints

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.

AwardsDirector of rugbyCountrySeasons52012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2018–19, 2022–2322011–12, 2019–202023–24, 2025–26

Awards won by nationality Country Directors of rugby Total

Awards won by club Club Directors of rugby TotalLeicester TigersSaracensBathNorthampton SaintsWaspsExeter ChiefsLondon IrishSale SharksGloucesterLeedsNewcastleBristol Bears

See also Premiership Rugby Player of the Season Premiership Rugby Young Player of the Season Premiership Rugby top scorers Premiership Rugby Team of the Season

References