Posted by As the northern hemisphere club season begins to come to a conclusion, awards season is in full swing as players enjoy a night on the money men to celebrate the year and let their hair down.
While the Cardiff players feel obliged to turn up at official awards nights put on by the club though, what they’re really waiting for is the Cardiff Rugby Life Awards*. The honour and prestige is unmatched across any other award, and the host incredibly good looking.
*Some or all of this may be an imagination
So without wanting to keep the players waiting, the first part of this season’s awards focus on the Rags after another excellent campaign in Super Rygbi Cymru saw Dan Fish’s side top the table during the regular season, but fall in the semi-finals of the play-offs at the hands of eventual champions Llandovery.
Breakout Player of the Season
As ever these awards focus on the semi-professional core of the squad, and there were a number of players who stepped up this season to form the backbone of the team as academy and first team players switched in and out depending on their responsibilities elsewhere.
Tom Harper has been a real cornerstone of the pack from tighthead, Gavin Parry had a strong first half of the season before injury curtailed his involvement, and Aled Ward moved to fill the hole left by the likes of Benji Williams and Mackenzie Martin in the number eight jersey.
The winner though is Ethan Phillips who cemented himself in the spine of the squad at second row. For almost as long as I can remember the engine room has been an issue for the Rags with a lack of locks coming through the pathway and a shortage of suitable semi-professional level options.
This was Phillips’ third full season in the Blue & Black after leaving Cardiff University, and it capped year-on-year improvement to become one of the first names on the team sheet and in the running for SRC Team of the Year honours.
An excellent lineout forward who seems to have benefitted from working with Rory Thornton, he’s got a top level work rate and an all-round very good skillset that adds an extra dimension to his game. Unfortunately he now moves on to Spewport for next season, but 65 appearances in three-and-a-bit years underlines his commitment to Cardiff.
Young Player of the Year
As usual this isn’t an award with a particularly long shortlist as the semi-pro squad has a slightly higher average age to balance out the number of young Academy players.
Evan Nicholls-Ngasseu gets a nod for stepping up at hooker in senior rugby despite still being U18 and in school, but the winner is Gavin Parry. Also a hooker, the 21-year-old former Scotland U20 cap appears to have dealt well with not quite making it with the Academy and knuckled down to give the SRC a good go.
A solid lineout thrower, good scrummager and physical presence around the field, he offers something different to the slightly smaller and nippier Alun Rees in the middle of that front row, perfect in particular for trips to the likes of Carmarthen and Ebbw Vale in the height of winter.
Try of the Season
As you might expect from an attack overseen by Dan Fish, there are plenty of possibilities for try of the season!
A team score finished off by Osian Darwin-Lewis away at Llandovery and a Rhys Cummings counter attack finished by Dewi Cross at home to Carmarthen were considered, as were individual efforts from Joe Goodchild and Matty Young – both in the home win over Aberavon – and Elijah Evans against Ebbw at the Arms Park.
In the end though it came down to three scores involving excellent skills from big forwards. Craig Hudd’s hitch kick and fend to score at Pontypool and Ioan Emanuel’s heads-up kick for Rhys Cummings to run on to in Swansea were both very unlucky to miss out, but the winner can only be Will Davies-King and Joe Cowell combining to cross against Aberavon.
An incisive line and break from tighthead Davies-King leaves the away defenders scrambling but he keeps his cool and links with Cowell in a way that prime Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith can only dream of, executing the switch before the loosehead throws an outrageous dummy to cross the line. And no, the video has not been sped up!
Best New Signing
Another award with a smaller shortlist as some signings either never properly materialised or struggled to make an impact. Tom Williams had a solid season largely featuring at inside centre and providing experience and some size to an otherwise young back line, but the winner is a fairly obvious one.
Ben Fry had exactly the impact that a former Cardiff Schools captain who spent a few years at professional level, and then a year away from the game before being hungry to return, should do.
A brutally physical carrier and constant defensive presence, who also enjoys a jackal and an offload, the blindside drew plaudits aplenty down the stretch as he regained his fitness and sharpness to become a key member of the Rags pack.
The 27-year-old finished with 8 tries in 18 games across all competitions, as well as a deserved spot in S4C’s SRC Team of the Season.
Best Academy Player
Now on to the award for the Academy players and there’s plenty of competition for this one. Technically coming into contention for this award in my mind, Bath loanee Ioan Emanuel had a big impact on the team from loosehead, while Osian Darwin-Lewis enjoyed huge progression over the course of the season from outside centre and last season’s winner Matty Young was excellent again.
The winner though is Harri Wilde as the fly-half enjoyed a coming-of-age season at this level to lead Cardiff to the top of the SRC table.
Having graduated the Cymru D20 set up the 21-year-old suffered a frustrating injury early in the campaign but since returning at Christmas has grown in stature as a playmaker and a leader to guide the exciting Rags back line around fields across Wales, showing off his passing range as well as his own running ability.
Add in some very impressive goal kicking, where he’s averaged just over 8 points per game off the tee in a team that barely ever kicks penalty goals, it’s been an all round excellent season for the Llantwit Fardre man.
Performance of the Season
Once again a hotly contested award with the Rags, particularly in the final few weeks of the regular season, producing some brilliant performances to overhaul Ebbw Vale at the top of the league.
Prior to that, the early season home win over Pontypool contained one of the most dominant halves of rugby I’ve seen as the Blue & Blacks won that game by half-time, while the victory over Bridgend at the Arms Park just before Christmas was a statement following a few weeks of tough results and performances.
However, it is once again difficult to overlook a big win over Llandovery at Church Bank.
To make the trip to the northern tip of Carmarthenshire, at a time in late March when the season was still very much in the balance, go 14-5 down after 25 minutes and then produce a display of accurate running rugby to win the rest of the game 0-40 was quite sublime to watch.
Ben Fry, Aled Ward, Osian Darwin-Lewis (2), Tom Bowen, Joe Goodchild and Dewi Cross (shock!) shared the tries around, while Harri Wilde added a few conversions to really mark the Rags out as title contenders and have the Steelmen looking firmly over their shoulder.
Player of the Year
As ever we finish on the major award. There was some internal debate over the winner this year, with Ben Fry in the running for a second award after his excellent season, while Ethan Lloyd had a superb campaign from scrum-half and would have been a more than worthy victor.
The 2025/26 Cardiff Rugby Life Cardiff RFC Player of the Year is Craig Hudd.
At the end of his third full season in Blue & Black, and now club captain following in the big shoes of Morgan Allen and Sean Moore, the back five forward has become arguably the most important member of the semi-professional squad through his versatility in key positions across the back of the scrum, his leadership and his quality as a player.
A back rower by trade but playing predominantly as a lock in a needs-must scenario, he has become a very accomplished lineout and maul operator, is tireless in how much work he gets through around the field and embraces the physical side of the game to drag the team forwards single-handedly at times.
He joins brother Nathan as a winner of this award, both whom have become lynchpins in this Cardiff pack. A fantastic season for captain Craig, and he remains vitally important as a player and increasingly as a role model/mentor for the likes of Sonny McCabe and Gabe Williams as they make their way into the Rags set up.
Cardiff Rugby Life 