The Scotsman's rugby awards: Coaches and players of the season and try that will never be forgotten

The season’s over and it’s time to hand out the prizes to The Scotsman’s rugby award winners for 2022/23.

Glasgow Warriors' Tom Jordan enjoyed a breakthrough season. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

Our chief rugby correspondent Graham Bean talks you through the prize guys from the past year in Scottish rugby.

Coach of the year: Franco Smith

Gregor Townsend's achievements over the course of the season included a thrilling dismantling of Argentina at Murrayfield, a third successive win over England and Scotland’s highest Six Nations finish since 2018, but the national coach is just edged out by Franco Smith, whose reboot of Glasgow Warriors saw them finish fourth in the United Rugby Championship and reach their first European final. Toulon denied them in Dublin but Smith put his imprint firmly on Glasgow’s talented squad who played with muscular attacking intent. Tangible rewards came in the form of the 1872 Cup and Scottish-Italian Shield but Glasgow will be eyeing the bigger prizes again next season.

Duhan van der Merwe leaves England players in his wake as he scores his wonder try in Scotland's 29-23 win at Twickenham. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Men’s player of the year: Sione Tuipulotu

Sione Tuipulotu was outstanding for club and country. His second season in Scotland saw him establish himself as a first-choice pick in the national side where he formed an effective centre pairing with Huw Jones. The Glasgow Warriors players quickly hit it off, with Tuipulotu turning creator for Jones in the Six Nations, having a hand in the three of the latter’s four tries across the championship. Will be a key player for Scotland at the Rugby World Cup.

Women’s player of the year: Lana Skeldon

Scotland ended their TikTok Women’s Six Nations with back-to-back wins over Italy and Ireland, which not only arrested a 12-game losing run but also saw them finish fourth. Three Scots made it into the Team of the Championship, full-back Chloe Rollie, hooker Lana Skeldon and No 8 Evie Gallagher, but Skeldon gets the nod for the impact she had in the two victories. Two tries against Italy and one against Ireland helped propel Scotland to victory and gave her four for the championship following her earlier score in the defeat by Wales.

Lana Skeldon celebrates Scotland's win over Italy in the TikTok Women's Six Nations. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Breakthrough player of the year: Tom Jordan

Tom Jordan was thrust into action in Glasgow Warriors’ first game of the season against Benetton and never looked back. Although he had joined during the previous year after impressing in Super6 with Ayrshire Bulls, Jordan had to wait until Franco Smith’s arrival before getting his chance. The Kiwi stand-off seized it with both hands and played in 23 of Glasgow’s 27 matches over the course of the campaign. A red card against Munster in the URC quarter-final meant his missed the Challenge Cup final through suspension which was tough on the player and costly for the club.

Try of the season: Duhan van der Merwe

Duhan van der Merwe’s slaloming run through the England defence at Twickenham was a sight to behold for anyone lucky enough to have been in the stadium that day. Townsend described it as being like something out of the Jonah Lomu Rugby video game as van der Merwe weaved his way past half a dozen white jerseys. It was a classic moment in which the winger combined pace, power and beautiful balance to leave England flailing. Rightly voted try of the championship.

Disappointment of the season: Edinburgh

Edinburgh failed to build on the promise of their first season under Mike Blair and ended up 12th in the URC, four places adrift of the play-off places. Blair announced his intention to stand down as the club’s head coach in February and will now pursue his career as an attack coach. Whether that will be at Edinburgh or elsewhere remains to be seen but it is hard to escape a sense of unfinished business with the capital club. Blair injected fresh energy and new ideas when he took over in summer 2021 and Edinburgh played with great verve to reach the URC play-offs that season, winning the 1872 Cup and Scottish-Italian Shield in the process.

Most impressive URC player: Peter O’Mahony

Peter O’Mahony featured in only half of Munster’s regular season games but the abrasive flanker returned from Ireland duties at the Six Nations to play a vital role in the club’s extraordinary march to the URC title. No-one could accuse them of doing it the easy way. O’Mahony and Munster had to negotiate five away games on the bounce to land their first major honour in 12 years. O’Mahony helped Munster beat Stormers and draw with the Sharks in South Africa and while an early injury limited his contribution in the quarter-final against Glasgow, he was back for the semi-final win over Leinster at the Aviva and the final triumph which stunned the Stormers in Cape Town. Honourable mention to his back-row partner John Hodnett and cool-headed stand-off/centre Jack Crowley.

Best Scottish performer outside of URC: Ben White

Ali Price has been a fixture at scrum-half for Scotland since the last World Cup but Ben White usurped Price for the Six Nations opener and retained the jersey for the entirety of the campaign. Scored Scotland’s third try in the 29-23 win at Twickenham and is in the box seat to start at the World Cup but his club future remains uncertain as London Irish teeter on the brink.

The unsung hero award: Matty Douglas

A Borders revival at club level was led by Hawick who were crowned Tennent’s Premiership champions and then made it a double by beating Marr in the Scottish Cup final. Kudos to head coach Matty Douglas and his backroom team. While Hawick were tearing it up in the top flight, going through the season unbeaten, Kelso sealed their return to the Premiership by winning National League Division 1 and Selkirk won the Border League.

The one to watch for next season: Patrick Harrison

Hooker is a highly competitive position in Scottish rugby, not least at Edinburgh where they are replacing the retiring 47-cap Stuart McInally with another Scotland man, Ewan Ashman. Dave Cherry and Adam McBurney are also vying for the Edinburgh jersey but that hasn’t stopped Patrick Harrison forcing himself into the mix. The hooker from Peebles made a try-scoring appearance off the bench in the away win against Cardiff, was involved in the narrow defeat at Saracens in the Champions Cup, and went on to bag a couple more tries in consecutive weeks against Glasgow and Zebre, showing nimble footwork and a burst of pace.