Tommy Reffell | |
Fullname: | Tomas John Reffell |
Birth Date: | 27 April 1999 |
Birth Place: | Bridgend, Wales |
Height: | 1.830NaN0 |
Weight: | 1030NaN0 |
School: | Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College |
Position: | Flanker |
Currentclub: | Leicester Tigers |
Years1: | 2017– |
Clubs1: | Leicester Tigers |
Apps1: | 114 |
Points1: | 85 |
Years2: | 2017–2018 |
Clubs2: | Loughborough Students |
Apps2: | 5 |
Points2: | 5 |
Repyears1: | 2018–2019 |
Repteam1: | Wales U20 |
Repcaps1: | 15 |
Reppoints1: | 10 |
Repyears2: | 2022– |
Repteam2: | Wales |
Repcaps2: | 18 |
Reppoints2: | 5 |
Clubupdate: | 18 May 2024 |
Repupdate: | 23 March 2024 |
Tomas John Reffell (born 27 April 1999) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers and the Wales national team.[1] [2]
Reffell began his junior career at his local club Pencoed RFC aged 4.[3] He was part of the Ospreys under 16s[2] and joined Leicester aged 15.[3]
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.[4] [5]
In March 2020, Reffell won the Premiership Rugby Cup Breakthrough Player award for his performances in that year's competition.[6]
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.[7] He was named man of the match by the Leicester Mercury following his performance in Tigers' win against Gloucester on 24 September 2021.[8] [9]
His form continued into the next season, earning plaudits as he scored twice in the win against Harlequins on 16 October 2022.[10] On 27 November 2022 he was again named player of the match, scoring Leicester's fourth try in the win over London Irish.[11]
In June, Reffell started the 2022 Premiership Rugby final as Leicester won 15-12 against Saracens.[12]
Reffell captained both Wales U18 and Wales U20.[13] [14]
After another spell of good form, in May 2022, Reffell was named in the squad for their summer tour to South Africa.[15] On 2 July 2022 Reffell made his debut for Wales in their 32–29 defeat to at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.[16] 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.[17]
Reffell kept his position into the 2022 Autumn Internationals, starting against New Zealand.[18] Reffell was injured during the match, and played no further part in Wales's autumn campaign.[19]
|-|style="text-align:center;"|1|16 July 2022|Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa||style="text-align:center;"|5–10||2022 mid-year rugby union tests|}