Wales' Players of the Year announced at WRWA ceremony

Friday, 19 September 2025 at 11:38

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byHarry Tovey

Jac Morgan and Kate Williams have been presented with the Wales Player of the Year awards by the Welsh Rugby Writers Association (WRWA).

Back row Morgan, of course, captained Wales during the 2025 Six Nations and went on to represent the British and Irish Lions in Australia. The 25-year-old’s success over the 2024/25 season has seen him, for the second time in his career, claim the award.

On Thursday night at the Principality Stadium, Morgan was presented with the award by new Wales head coach Steve Tandy, who was joined by all four regional head coaches- Dwayne Peel, Mark Jones, Filo Tiatia, and Matt Sherratt.

Previous winners of the Lloyd Lewis award include the likes of Sir Gareth Edwards, Barry John, JPR Williams, Phil Bennett, Jonathan Davies, Scott Gibbs, Ieuan Evans, Neil Jenkins, Rob Howley, Martyn Williams, Gethin Jenkins, Shane Williams, Leigh Halfpenny and Alun Wyn Jones. Dragons RFC, Aaron Wainwright, was the winner in 2024.

“It was a good year, I enjoyed it, and I’m really pleased to win this award,” began Morgan, speaking to the press after claiming the award in the President’s Lounge.

“It was a tough year with the way that the games went but I was chuffed to watch the boys get the win in Japan.

“That was pretty special. It’s been challenging but we have worked hard as a group and been tight.”

Morgan featured for the Lions in two of the three Test matches against the Wallabies, where he came off the bench. He scored in the final Test of the Series, but before that, he made a spectacular clear-out in the lead-up to the Lions series-winning try by Ireland’s Hugo Keenan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

“It was a great experience and I enjoyed being with the coaches and playing group. They were a great bunch of boys, and we built bonds and made friendships for life.

“To be a part of it was pretty special. I learnt loads of new things playing with other back-rowers and learning from them.

“I tried to develop my game, learn off them and see what improvements I can make based on how they play, train and their off-field habits,” Morgan continued.

When asked about Tandy becoming the new head coach, he added: “I am really excited and looking forward to the start and Steve coming in.

“They are exciting times, especially after the win in the summer (against Japan in Kobe)

“The boys are looking forward to getting the season starting with the regions.

“We have the talent in Wales and within the regions, so we are looking forward to regrouping, learning new things, getting better and trying to get closer as a group to put in the performance.”

Elsewhere, Gloucester-Hartpury and Wales Co-captain Kate Williams won the Liza Burgess award for Wales’ women’s player of the year. “I am just loving playing my rugby at the minute and that showed with how I played in the Six Nations and for Gloucester-Hartpury.

“All of the opportunities that I have had have been unbelievable, and I feel really lucky to play with the players that I do.

“As a team we are building. Results haven’t gone our way so far, and we haven’t had the performances we have needed or wanted, but we are still gelling, which hopefully will continue,” she added.

On Wales’ Rugby World Cup, where they fell to defeats against Scotland, Canada, and Fiji, Williams insisted there was no shying away from the disappointment of the results.

“There is no shying away from the fact that it was a disappointing World Cup with performances and results, but we have a lot of direction going into the Six Nations next year.

“We know we need to work on playing more rugby with our clubs and in the Celtic Challenge to get that game fitness and game IQ.

“That’s where we will improve coming into the Six Nations – it will improve fitness, skills and connections.

“Sean (Lynn) is an amazing coach, and his biggest driver for us is that he believes in us as players and believes in us as a team.

“That’s so important for us to move forward, to take the learnings we have from this year and believe we can do this.

Scarlets Blair Murray was named Wales men’s young player of the year, after making his international debut against Fiji last Autumn. He was one of Wales’ standout performers in this year’s Six Nations and could’ve easily been selected for the Lions squad to tour Australia.

“Coming over to Wales this time last year, I could never have expected my first season to have gone as it did. I was hoping to play maybe four or five games for the Scarlets and build from there with this season in mind.

“But to play as much as I did and also represent Wales means it’s been a dream really. I have to continue to make the most of it now.

“I feel very grateful and honoured to receive this award, and to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the previous winners is a great feeling.

“I want to build on what I did last season this year. We made the play-offs with the Scarlets, and this year we’re playing in the Champions Cup, which is something I’m really looking forward to.

“I’m looking forward to hopefully being a part of the Wales set-up with Steve Tandy. Hopefully, I can play well enough for the Scarlets to be involved again.”

Wales