Posted by In the recent Cardiff Rugby Life Awards hosted at this glamourous website, the big prize of the event went to Thomas Young as he scooped the imaginary Player of the Year trophy.
It came at the end of a brilliant return season at the Arms Park for the openside flanker who arrived back home last summer after eight years away, first with Gloucester for a brief period and then at Wasps where he moulded himself into one of the premier 7s in European rugby.
Rewind 18 months though and the scepticism that met the announcement of Young’s return was all too real. Some comments around Dai Young just signing him because it’s his son were floated, while there was particular noise around the need for another flanker with the likes of Olly Robinson, Ellis Jenkins, James Botham and Josh Navidi at the club.
It turned out to be a masterstroke. When high quality Welsh players become available you don’t turn your nose up at them, and in a position like the back row where attrition is on another level you need all the cover you can get. Strength in depth is what wins trophies, and we saw the need for that when Young was ruled out for two months with a torn calf.
What sets Young apart is his sheer pace. We’ve seen quick opensides in Wales; Tommy Reffell isn’t slow, Martyn Williams in his prime was quick, Josh Navidi had a turn of pace, and, of course, Justin Tipuric is one of the most gifted athletes of the professional era. None have the explosive acceleration that the current Cardiff man has though.
It makes him a weapon with ball-in-hand, as we’ve seen from the try above against Connacht and scores against Dragons and Ospreys, but it’s particularly dangerous in defence where that pace and the accompanying athleticism get him to the breakdown and then over the ball before the opposition have time to get in shape.
When you tie in that pace with a natural eye for a breakdown to target and a natural timing for getting over the ball, it’s no surprise that Young has won the United Rugby Championship’s Turnover King award and has turned the ball over 18 times in 17 games across all competitions.
I guess the big question when reviewing Thomas Young’s season though, is how he didn’t make Wales’ pre-Rugby World Cup training squad?
If you’re looking at it from Warren Gatland’s perspective then there are cons to the 31-year-old; playing in England then getting injured ahead of the Six Nations means he has not been around the Wales squad with any regularity, and his position as an out-and-out openside is restrictive when squads are limited to 33 for the tournament.
On top of that, of course, is the simple fact that Wales is stacked with quality flankers. The aforementioned Reffell has been fantastic for Leicester, Tipuric was a staple of the national team for a decade, and Jac Morgan has the form and talent ceiling to be one of the best players around. With the likes of Taine Basham and Aaron Wainwright bringing the versatility, it’s a tough choice.
Yet it just feels like the Welsh setup is missing a trick by not having someone with the x factor of Young in it. There are a lot of good players in the list, but none who, at this point, have genuine game changing attributes in the same way that the Cardiff man’s pace and skills bring.
While it did not end with a Rugby World Cup call-up (yet), it was still a remarkable return season for Young who more than answered any critics of his signings and delivered a timely reminder of why he’s been considered one of the best flankers the European domestic game has over the past seven-to-eight years.
As the club enters a difficult period in it’s history, and the player himself deals with off-field circumstances that have a greater impact on him than many others in the squad, I hope he still feels able to play for Cardiff and perform at the highest level.
It will be players like Thomas Young that provide the excitement over the next few years, and play an important role in bringing through the next generation of Blue and Blacks as part of what will hopefully be a bright future.
Cardiff Rugby Life 