Northampton Saints No.10 Fin Smith has been voted January’s Gallagher Player of the Month, winning 43% of the vote in the public poll ahead of Saints teammate Ollie Sleightholme, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs) and Guy Pepper (Newcastle Falcons).
Smith is one of the Gallagher Premiership Rugby’s rising stars and has impressively marshalled his Saints side to a seven-point lead at the top of the table, earning a call-up to Steve Borthwick’s England Six Nation’s squad in the process.
Having made his international debut against Italy in England’s Six Nations opener, the 21-year-old looks set to feature throughout the tournament before returning to Saints as they push to maintain top spot in the league and ultimately earn a spot in the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final 2024.
Smith becomes the fourth recipient of the Gallagher Player of the Month award for the 2023/24 season, and the second successive winner from the league leaders.
The winners so far this season:
- October – Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby)
- November – Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby)
- December – Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Charlie Scott, Chief Financial Officer at Gallagher, said: “It is a pleasure to present the Gallagher Player of The Month award to Fin as he has played brilliantly so far during the season.
“Fin has played a pivotal role in Saints’ success and leading position in the league table so far this season, and his performance on the pitch has gone from strength to strength. Fin is showing a lot of promise and is now a rising star now an international level. It's great that he has earned himself a place on the England Six Nations squad and his first, of what I am sure will be many, international caps.”
The shortlist was voted for by a panel of media professionals.
The judges for the 2023/24 Gallagher Premiership Rugby season are: Ali Eykyn (TNT Sports), Ugo Monye (BBC, TNT Sports), Jill Douglas (ITV, BBC), Ashleigh Wilmot (Eurosport, TNT Sports), Rugby Inside Line, Alex Lowe (The Times), Hugh Godwin (i), Nick Mullins (TNT Sports) and Chris Jones (BBC).