URC Top try scorer named

Tom Stewart is named the first winner of the 2022/23 United Rugby Championship Awards.

Ulster hooker Tom Stewart crossed the white wash a record-breaking 16 times over the course of the Vodacom URC regular season picking up the OFX Top Try Scorer award.

This kicks off three weeks of announcements in the build-up to the Vodacom URC Grand Final on Saturday May 27.

Wednesday will see the winner of the Tackle Machine and Turnover King crowned with the Elite XV, Try of the Season, Next-Gen Player of the Season and Vodacom Fans’ Player of the Season being disclosed next week.

Gilbert Golden Boot and Ironman will be awarded after the Semi-Final. While the BKT Coach of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season will be divulged in the week of the Grand Final.

Here, we take a closer look at the OFX Top Try Scorer award winner and the performances that led to Tom Stewarts achievement, which were determined using URC StatMaster data provided by Oval Insights.

OFX Top Try Scorer: Tom Stewart (Ulster) 16 tries

Stewart ended the season in stunning form for Ulster to soar to the top of the Vodacom URC try-scoring charts in record-breaking fashion.

The 22-year-old hooker went over eight times in his final four matches - including back-to-back hat-tricks - to move on to 16 tries.

It surpassed the feat achieved by Tim Visser (Edinburgh, 2010/11) and Rabz Maxwane (Cheetahs, 2018/19) by two tries.

He finished the regular season four clear, with Edinburgh's Darcy Graham his nearest challenger with 12 while Connacht's Caolin Blade had 11.

Simone Gesi (Zebre Parma), Rob Russell (Leinster) and Gavin Coombes (Munster) registered 10 tries while Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks) and Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) each had nine.