Baxter and Tshiunza shortlisted for Rugby Awards at 2026 ceremony

Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter and lock Christ Tshiunza have both been shortlisted for honours at the 2026 Rugby Awards next month.

Baxter is nominated for the Gallagher PREM Director of Rugby of the Season award. The current longest serving DoR in the league, Baxter is chosen in a four-person shortlist alongside Bath Rugby’s Johann van Graan, Northampton Saints’ Phil Dowson and his former player, Leicester Tigers’ Geoff Parling.

Wales international Tshiunza is one of four players to receive an RPA Personal Development Award this season for his work in establishing the online training and mentorship platform, Drivn.

Tshiunza said: “We were very happy to hear that we won the player development award. We set up our online training coming, Drivn, to help those playing at a non-professional level in sport and those aspiring to reach pro level.

“We wanted to give them an opportunity and an extra tool to reach their goals by working 1-on-1 with our coaches. This award will support the business massively, as it will allow us to cover the software fees required to set up and run our app.”

He will be recognised alongside Bath Rugby duo Kieran Verden and Josh Bayliss, Leicester Tigers’ Emeke Ilione and Gloucester-Hartpury pair Natasha Hunt and Zoe Stratford.

This year’s awards ceremony, which takes place at London’s iconic Old Billingsgate, will be broadcast live on TNT Sports and HBO Max, live from 9pm on Wednesday, June 10.

The black-tie event for the second year running brings together PREM Rugby, Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR), the Rugby Players’ Association (RPA) and England Rugby in a huge celebration of the 2025/26 season.