Blair Murray’s incredible first season in Welsh rugby was recognised by the Welsh Rugby Writers at their annual awards evening in Cardiff on Thursday night.
The Scarlets speedster received the Wales men’s Young Player of the Year accolade after a debut campaign that saw him light up Parc y Scarlets and shine for a struggling Wales team.
After receiving the award from WRW Chairman Alex Bywater, Blair said: “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.”
The other awards saw Newport fly-half Jac Lloyd win the Super Rygbi Cymru player of the year, Wales co-captain Kate Williams receive the Liza Burgess award for Wales Women’s Player of the Year, while the main award of the evening, the Lloyd Lewis award for Wales men’s Player of the Year went to Wales captain Lion Jac Morgan, who became a Test Lion this summer.
The event was supported by Premier Sports, who will again be broadcasting the BKT United Rugby Championship and Investec Champions Cup and Challenge Cup this season.
Premier’s Ross Harries hosted the evening, with guests including former Wales stars and current pundits Tom Shanklin and Shane Williams. Head coaches of the four Welsh professional clubs, Dwayne Peel, Mark Jones, Matt Sherratt and Filo Tiatia were also in attendance.
Premier Sports will be showing every game live from the URC., including Scarlets’ massive clash with Munster in Llanelli on Saturday, September 27.