Benhard Janse van Rensburg wins Gallagher Player of the Month for January

Irish surged into seventh place in the Gallagher Premiership Rugby table in January, just two points behind a semi-final spot, and Monye believes the sky’s the limit for the men in green. Monye said: “London Irish always play a brilliant brand of rugby and I think whilst they’ve got some electric players in Ollie Hassell-Collins, Ben Loader and Ben White, one of the pillars of their game is dependent on Van Rensburg.

“He’s such a focal point in attack, incredibly strong in defence and just a consistently brilliant player for Irish - it’s helped them hugely this month and hence why he’s won this award.”

In January, wins over Harlequins and Bristol Bears have made Irish genuine title contenders and Monye added: “London Irish have been on the end of some devastatingly close losses and some of those were self-inflicted but a lot of it was just bad luck.

“With Van Rensburg’s consistency and experience, they’ve turned a corner. We felt they might have when they beat Saracens in December and they’ve blown Harlequins and Bristol away this month which were two key battles.

“At this stage of the season, with the league being so congested and so tight, being able to back up results is going to be pivotal to how the league finalises itself in a few months’ time.

“They’ve got a home Premiership Rugby Cup semi-final to look forward to at the Gtech Community Stadium which is a great place to watch rugby.”

Jacob Fordham, Business Development Executive at Gallagher, who presented the award said: "Van Rensburg is a highly worthy winner of this month’s Gallagher Player of the Month for his performance in January. He has proven himself to be a highly capable attacking and defensive player at the heart of the team and is a bright light in the premiership.”

Northampton Saints wing James Ramm and London Irish scrum-half Ben White tied for the runners-up spot with Nick David of Harlequins fourth.

As part of his prize for being named Gallagher Player of the Month, van Rensburg wins a shirt signed by the whole London Irish squad and framed by Gallagher to gift to a charity of his choice, to help raise funds for its chosen cause.

Van Rensburg was voted for by a panel of media professionals based on his performances in January 2023, alongside a public poll on the Premiership Rugby app. The judges were: Nick Mullins (BT Sport), Alastair Eykyn (BT Sport), Alex Lowe (The Times) Hugh Godwin (I), Andrew Baldock (Press Association), John Everly (Bristol Post and Bath Chronicle) Jill Douglas (Broadcaster), Craig Swayne (The Good, The Bad and The Rugby), Chris Jones (BBC 5 Live), David Rogers (Getty Images) and Tom Hamilton (ESPN). The panel was chaired by Paul Morgan, Premiership Rugby's Communications Director.