Tommy Reffell
Tomas John Reffell is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers and the Wales national team.
Club career
Reffell began his junior career at his local club Pencoed RFC aged 4. He was part of the Ospreys under 16s and joined Leicester aged 15.Reffell made his debut for Leicester Tigers on 10 November 2017 in a 33-31 defeat against Bath at the Rec in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.
In March 2020, Reffell won the Premiership Rugby Cup Breakthrough Player award for his performances in that year's competition.
His form for Leicester in the 2020–21 season lead to speculation that he was in contention to be capped by either or, but he remained uncapped. He was named man of the match by the Leicester Mercury following his performance in Tigers' win against Gloucester on 24 September 2021.
His form continued into the next season, earning plaudits as he scored twice in the win against Harlequins on 16 October 2022. On 27 November 2022 he was again named player of the match, scoring Leicester's fourth try in the win over London Irish.
In June, Reffell started the 2022 Premiership Rugby final as Leicester won 15-12 against Saracens.
Reffell scored the winning try as Leicester beat Exeter Chiefs on the opening day of the 2024-25 Premiership Rugby season.
International career
Reffell captained both Wales U18 and Wales U20.After another spell of good form, in May 2022, Reffell was named in the squad for their summer tour to South Africa. On 2 July 2022 Reffell made his debut for Wales in their 32–29 defeat to at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. The following match on 9 July 2022 saw him win the man of the match award, as Wales beat South Africa 13-12 for their first ever win against South Africa in South Africa.
Reffell kept his position into the 2022 Autumn Internationals, starting against New Zealand. Reffell was injured during the match, and played no further part in Wales's autumn campaign.