Premiership Rugby Young Player of the Season

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Awarded forThe most outstanding young player in each given Premiership Rugby season
Sponsored byDefender, Gallagher
CountryEngland
Presented byPremiership Rugby
Premiership Rugby Young Player of the Season
Awarded forThe most outstanding young player in each given Premiership Rugby season
Sponsored byDefender, Gallagher
CountryEngland
Presented byPremiership Rugby
First award1998
Currently held byHenry Pollock
Highlights
Most awardsIain Balshaw (2)
Most team winsLeicester Tigers (6)
Most consecutive team winsBath, Leicester Tigers (2)

The Premiership Rugby Young Player of the Season, also known as the Breakthrough Player of the Season, is an annual rugby union award presented to players in England, which recognises the most outstanding young player in the Premiership each season.

Rugby union turned professional in 1995, and 1996–97 marked the first professional Premiership Rugby season.[1] However, the Young Player of the Season award was only first bestowed during the 1998–99 season. The first Young Player of the Season award was given to Newcastle Falcons player Jonny Wilkinson.[2]

Iain Balshaw is the only player to have won the award more than once, winning back-to-back in the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 seasons.[3]

The nominees of the award must be 23 or younger at the start of the season. The award is presented by the Rugby Players' Association (RPA), and is voted on by the players themselves.[4] The trophy is named after Nick Duncombe, a Harlequins and England scrum-half who tragically died in 2003 from a rare form of blood poisoning at just 21 years old.[5]

The current holder of the award is Northampton Saints' Henry Pollock.[6]

Key
Player (X) Name of the player and number of times they had won the award at that point (if more than one)
† Indicates player also scored the most points in the same season
‡ Indicates player also scored the most tries in the same season
§ Denotes the club were Premiership Rugby champions in the same season
Premiership Rugby Young Player of the Season winners
Season Player Position Nationality Club Ref(s)
1998–99 Jonny Wilkinson Fly-half England Newcastle Falcons [2]
1999–2000 Iain Balshaw‡ (1) Wing England Bath [7]
2000–01 Iain Balshaw (2) Wing England Bath [3]
2001–02 Lewis Moody Flanker England Leicester Tigers§ [8]
2002–03 James Forrester Number 8 England Gloucester [9]
2003–04 Olly Barkley Fly-half England Bath [10]
2004–05 Ollie Smith Centre England Leicester Tigers [11]
2005–06 Tom Varndell‡ Wing England Leicester Tigers [12]
2006–07 Tom Rees Flanker England Wasps [13]
2007–08 Danny Cipriani Fly-half England Wasps§ [14]
2008–09 Jordan Turner-Hall Centre England Harlequins [15]
2009–10 Ben Youngs Scrum half England Leicester Tigers§ [16]
2010–11 Manu Tuilagi Centre England Leicester Tigers [17]
2011–12 Owen Farrell Fly-half England Saracens [18]
2012–13 Joe Launchbury Lock England Wasps [19]
2013–14 Billy Vunipola Number 8 England Saracens [20]
2014–15 Henry Slade Centre England Exeter Chiefs [21]
2015–16 Maro Itoje Lock England Saracens§ [22]
2016–17 Ellis Genge Prop England Leicester Tigers [23]
2017–18 Sam Simmonds Number 8 England Exeter Chiefs [24]
2018–19 Tom Curry Flanker England Sale Sharks [25]
2019–20 Jack Willis Flanker England Wasps [26]
2020–21 Ioan Lloyd Fly-half Wales Bristol Bears [27]
2021–22 Henry Arundell Wing England London Irish [28]
2022–23 Tom Pearson Flanker England London Irish [29]
2023–24 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso Wing England Exeter Chiefs [30]
2024–25 Henry Pollock Flanker England Northampton Saints [31]

Multiple awards won by players

The following table lists the number of awards won by players who have won at least two Player of the Season awards.

Players in bold are still active in the Premiership Rugby.

Awards Player Country Seasons
2 Iain Balshaw England 1999–2000, 2000–01

Awards won by nationality

Country Players Total
England 25 26
Wales 1 1

Awards won by position

Position Players Total
Flanker 6 6
Fly-half 5 5
Wing 4 5
Centre 4 4
Number 8 3 3
Lock 2 2
Scrum half 1 1
Prop 1 1

Awards won by club

Club Players Total
Leicester Tigers 6 6
Wasps 4 4
Exeter Chiefs 3 3
Saracens 3 3
Bath 2 3
London Irish 2 2
Newcastle Falcons 1 1
Gloucester 1 1
Harlequins 1 1
Bristol Bears 1 1
Sale Sharks 1 1
Northampton Saints 1 1

See also

Notes

References

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