Munster Rugby Awards 2025

Tom Farrell was announced on Saturday night as the Bank of Ireland Men’s Player of the Year at the annual Munster Rugby Awards, presented by Virgin Media, held at the Limerick Strand Hotel.

12 awards were presented to worthy recipients involved in professional and domestic rugby in Munster.

Farrell enjoyed an outstanding debut season for Munster as he showed incredible durability and consistency throughout the campaign where he played in every competitive fixture for Munster for a total of 26 matches, scoring 11 tries.

Chloe Pearse, who is the Bank of Ireland Women’s Player of the Year, had another excellent season as she captained Munster to an Interpro final at the beginning of last season. The back-row also produced some brilliant performances for her club as she led UL Bohemian RFC to a second successive Women’s All Ireland League title.

The Virgin Media Supporters’ Players of the Year awards were won by Tom Farrell and Caitríona Finn.

Full-back Ben O’Connor was named the John McCarthy Academy Player of the Year while the Breakthrough Women’s Player of the Year went to Caitríona Finn.

Members of the Munster Senior Men’s and Women’s squads and management were in attendance, joining domestic game volunteers in recognising and honouring rugby achievements across the province.

For a full list of winners at the 2025 Munster Rugby Awards, presented by Virgin Media, please see below.

Club Mini Section of the Year Award – Killorglin RFC

Killorglin RFC are this year’s winners of the Club Mini Section of the Year award, presented by Bank of Ireland.

During the 2024/25 season, Killorglin RFC experienced excellent numbers for their U8s, U10s and U12s sides with a dedicated set of coaches available for each of the age groups.

Each of the Minis age groups took part in all of the blitzes which were held in West Munster while the Kerry club also hosted a successful, fun and well-attended Minis blitz.

The club and Minis coordinator Tracey Murphy have put a big emphasis on integrating the Minis with the wider club and this included training sessions for the Minis age groups before Senior matches and forming guards of honor for the club’s senior side.

Club Age-Grade Section of the Year Award – Mallow RFC

Mallow RFC are the winners of this year’s Club Age-Grade Section of the Year award, presented by Laya Healthcare. The Cork club have created an environment where players can both have fun and excel which has led to strong playing numbers at various age levels throughout the club.  

The club have also put a lot of work into growing their girls rugby participation with a hugely successful Give It A Try campaign held in May. The club fields girls and boys teams from U8s right up to adult level and they also participate in Munster Rugby’s CCRO programme while their disability tag rugby team, The Mallow Barbarians, continues to grow since their inception over 10 years ago.  

The club has also recently appointed a Spirit Officer as they aim to embed the Spirit of Rugby into all aspects of the club.  

Pinergy School of the Year Award – Bandon Grammar School

Bandon Grammar School are the winners of this year’s Pinergy School of the Year award.

The highlight of the season for the West Cork outfit was their inaugural Munster Schools Boys Junior Cup victory where they defeated CBC 20-12 in the final at Virgin Media Park back in March.

The school also reached the final of the Bowen Shield as well as winning the U15 McCarthy Plate.

They also saw their players achieve interprovincial honours with Lewis Linehan, Sam Barry and Jack Deasy making the Munster U18 Boys Schools squad with Zach Piper and Michael Kennedy featuring for the U19s.

The school has continued to invest and make improvements to their rugby programme over the years, which includes the upgrading of facilities.

Bank of Ireland Junior Club of the Year Award – Carrick on Suir RFC

Carrick on Suir RFC are the winners of this year’s Bank of Ireland Junior Club of the Year award.

The club enjoyed great success last season as their men’s adult side won all 11 league games en route to winning Division 3 of the Munster Junior League which earned promotion to Division 2 for the 2025/26 season.

They also reached Round 4 of the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup, the furthest the club have reached in this competition while their seconds team went on to win the Ballyrandle Cup.

Carrick on Suir RFC have invested heavily in their underage structures over the last number of years with many players on the club’s adult side recent graduates from their underage teams.

Bank of Ireland Senior Club of the Year Award – Nenagh Ormond RFC

For the third successive year, Nenagh Ormond RFC are the winners of this year’s Bank of Ireland Senior Club of the Year award.

The Tipperary club continue to make great strides after they secured their second successive AIL promotion to secure Division 1A rugby for the upcoming season. They did this thanks to a dramatic playoff win over fellow Munster club UCC RFC and will now compete at this level for the first time in their history.

More history was made in March when they beat Old Crescent RFC 32-20 at Thomond Park to win their first ever Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup, becoming the first Tipperary club to lift the trophy in the competition’s 139-year history.

Last season also saw the club unveil their new and improved facilities and New Ormond Park which includes a full size 3G Pitch, 50x14m training 3G, upgraded LED floodlighting and upgraded gym and dressing rooms.

Referee of the Year Award – Tomás O’Sullivan

Tomás O’Sullivan is the winner of this year’s Referee of the Year award, presented by PBC. Originally from Castleisland, Co. Kerry, Tomás began his refereeing career with the Munster Association of Referees in the 2013/14 season.

Over the years, Tomás continued to develop his skills as he climbed through the grades in Munster which led to his appointment to the National Panel of Referees in 2020.

The Kerry native currently referees in Division 1A of the All Ireland League and also officiates as an assistant referee in both the URC and at European level.

This season also saw Tomás take charge of Pinergy Munster Schools Boys Senior Cup final between CBC and PBC at Virgin Media Park.

An ever-present figure at local referee meetings, Tomás is known for making himself available to his colleagues, always willing to offer advice, support, and guidance to newer referees, drawing on his considerable experience.

Breakthrough Women’s Player of the Year Award – Caitríona Finn

This year’s Breakthrough Women’s Player of the Year, presented by Marks & Spencer, is 19-year-old out-half Caitríona Finn.

The teenager saw great success throughout the 2024/2025 season with club, province and country.

The 2024 Women’s Interprovincial Championship was one to remember for the out-half as at just 18-years-old she earned her first call up to the senior squad and made her debut in the 49th minute of play against Leinster in Virgin Media Park. She would go on to make two further appearances in last season’s Interpro campaign.

Finn also featured regularly for the Clovers during the Celtic Challenge competition last season.

Due to her standout performances with UL Bohemian, Clovers and Munster, Caitríona also received the call to join Niamh Briggs’ Ireland U20s side for back-to-back matches against Canada in May before also being named in the squad for the summer series.

As well as her time with province and country she was also a part of the UL Bohemian side that clinched the Women’s All Ireland League title.

Finn began playing rugby with Ballina-Killaloe RFC and Nenagh Ormond RFC before making the move to UL Bohemian RFC to play senior rugby.

The John McCarthy Academy Player of the Year Award – Ben O’Connor

This year’s John McCarthy Academy Player of the Year award winner is Ben O’Connor.

The full-back enjoyed an excellent second year in the Academy, making seven senior appearances and scoring his first two tries for Munster.

The 2024/25 season also saw O’Connor make his mark on the international stage, lining out for Emerging Ireland on their tour to South Africa at the start of the campaign.

A talented sportsman, O’Connor joined the Academy in 2023 having won two All-Ireland medals with Cork in hurling – at minor level in 2021 and U20 level in 2023.

He flourished at PBC and played a leading role as they won the 2023 Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup.

He made his Munster debut within months of joining the Academy against Dragons in November 2023 and made his Champions Cup debut against Bayonne a month later.

O’Connor started all five of Ireland’s matches during their unbeaten U20s Six Nations campaign in 2024.

He was also part of the Ireland squad that reached the final of the U20s World Championship in 2024.

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The Munster Academy Player of the Year receives the John McCarthy Award for Excellence. Count Dr John McCarthy himself was an exceptional athlete and Munster player.

It is awarded for contribution on and off the field, commitment to training, dedication to improving himself and promoting his fellow academy players and the Munster Academy.

Virgin Media Supporters’ Players of the Year – Tom Farrell and Caitríona Finn

Tom Farrell and Caitríona Finn are the winners of this year’s Virgin Media Supporters’ Players of the Year awards.

A poll was held on the Munster Rugby website last week with Tom and Caitríona coming out on top against their peers.

Farrell and Finn had excellent seasons for Munster where they both made their first senior appearances for the province.

Tom made the switch to Munster from Connacht last summer and he showed incredible durability throughout his debut campaign where he played in every competitive fixture for Munster for a total of 26 matches, scoring 11 tries.

At just 18 years of age, Finn made her Munster debut during the 2024 Women’s Interprovincial Championship. She would earn three appearances before enjoying a successful season which included appearances for the Clovers and UL Bohemian RFC, helping the latter to a second successive Women’s All Ireland League title.

Her performance throughout the season saw her receive International Honours for Ireland U20s against Canada in May and during the recent U20 Summer Series.

Bank of Ireland Women’s Player of the Year – Chloe Pearse

Chloe Pearse has been named the Bank of Ireland Women’s Player of the Year after another excellent campaign for club and province.

Chloe captained Munster during the 2024/25 Interpros where she led Munster to three successive victories over Ulster, Leinster and Connacht before losing out to Leinster in the final in Belfast.

The club season was more successful for Chloe and she started an incredible 15 matches for the Red Robins that season which included leading her side to the 2024/25 Women’s All Ireland league title after a hugely exciting 29-24 win over Railway Union at the Aviva Stadium.

Last week, Pearse confirmed her retirement from provincial rugby and signed off in the best way possible by helping Munster to a first Women’s Interpro title since 2022.

Bank of Ireland Men’s Player of the Year – Tom Farrell

Tom Farrell has been named the Bank of Ireland Men’s Player of the Year after an outstanding debut campaign for Munster.

Farrell made the switch to Munster from Connacht last summer after a very successful seven years at Connacht where he scored 21 tries in 112 appearances.

Tom showed incredible durability throughout his debut campaign where he played in every competitive fixture for Munster for a total of 26 matches, scoring 11 tries.

Some of those tries proved to be crucial ones for Munster including the hattrick he scored in Belfast against Ulster to secure a hard-fought away win and also the try he scored against Stade Francais to help secure a vital home win in the pool stages of the Champions Cup.

The centre also contributed with plenty of try assists and linebreaks throughout the campaign and was rewarded for his creativity when he won the inaugural URC Playmaker Award for the 2024/25 season.