Munster centre Tom Farrell is pictured with his Bank of Ireland Men's Player of the Year award ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Tom Farrell and Chloe Pearse were announced on Saturday night as the respective Bank of Ireland Men’s and Women’s Players of the Year at the annual Munster Rugby Awards, presented by Virgin Media, held at the Limerick Strand Hotel.
Twelve 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 2024/25 campaign. He played in every competitive fixture for Munster for a total of 26 appearances, and scored 11 tries.
Pearse had another excellent season last year as she captained Munster to the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship final. She also produced some brilliant performances she led UL Bohemian RFC to a second successive Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division title.
The Virgin Media Supporters’ Players of the Year awards were won by Farrell and Caitríona Finn, the Munster Women’s teenage out-half (pictured above).
Full-back Ben O’Connor was named the John McCarthy Academy Player of the Year, while the Breakthrough Women’s Player of the Year award went to Ireland Under-20 international Finn.
Members of the Munster senior Men’s and Women’s squads and management were in attendance at the ceremony, joining domestic game volunteers in recognising and honouring rugby achievements across the province.
The winners, in full, at the 2025 Munster Rugby Awards were:
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 experienced excellent numbers for their Under-8s, Under-10s, and Under-12s, 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.
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.
Mallow have also put a lot of work into growing their girls rugby participation, with a hugely successful Canterbury ‘Give It A Try’ campaign held in May.
They fields girls and boys teams from Under-8s 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.
In addition, the club has recently appointed a Spirit Officer as they aim to embed the ‘Spirit of Rugby’ into all aspects of the club.
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 Cork 20-12 in the final at Virgin Media Park back in March.
Bandon Grammar School reached the final of the Bowen Shield, as well as winning the Under-15 McCarthy Plate.
They also saw their players achieve Interprovincial honours with Lewis Linehan, Sam Barry, and Jack Deasy making the Munster Under-18 Schools squad, and Zach Piper and Michael Kennedy featuring for the Under-19s.
The school has continued to invest and make improvements to their rugby programme over the years, which includes the upgrading of facilities.
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 team won all 11 league games en route to winning Division 3 of the Munster Junior League, which earned them promotion to Division 2 for 2025/26.
They also reached the fourth round 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 from the club’s adult side recent graduates from their underage teams.
For the third successive year, Nenagh Ormond RFC are the winners of the Bank of Ireland Senior Club of the Year award.
The Tipperary club continue to make great strides after claiming their second successive Energia All-Ireland League promotion to secure Division 1A rugby for this season.
They did this thanks to a dramatic play-off win over fellow Munster club UCC, and will now compete at this level for the first time in their history.
More history was made last March when Derek Corcoran’s men beat Old Crescent 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 Nenagh unveil their new and improved facilities and New Ormond Park, which includes a full size 3G pitch, a 50x14m 3G training pitch, upgraded LED floodlighting, and an upgraded gym and dressing rooms.
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, he continued to develop his skills as he climbed through the grades in Munster which led to his appointment to the IRFU National Panel of Referees in 2020.
The Kerry native currently referees in Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Division 1A, and also officiates as an assistant referee in both the BKT United Rugby Championship and at European level.
Last season saw Tomás take charge of the Pinergy Munster Schools Boys Senior Cup final between Cork rivals CBC and PBC at Virgin Media Park.
An ever-present figure at local referee meetings, he 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.
This year’s Breakthrough Women’s Player of the Year, presented by Marks & Spencer, is 19-year-old out-half Caitríona Finn.
The Tipperary-born teenager saw great success throughout the 2024/2025 season with club, province, and country.
The 2024 Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship was one to remember for the talented half-back as, at just 18 years of age, she earned her first call-up to the Munster senior squad and made her debut against Leinster. She made 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, the Clovers, and Munster, Caitríona was selected for Niamh Briggs’ Ireland Under-20s for back-to-back matches against Canada in May before playing in this summer’s Six Nations Summer Series in Wales.
As well as her appearances for province and country, she was part of the UL Bohemian side that clinched the Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division crown at the Aviva Stadium.
Finn began playing rugby with Ballina-Killaloe RFC and Nenagh Ormond RFC, before making the move to UL Bohemian RFC to play senior rugby.
This year’s John McCarthy Academy Player of the Year award winner is Ben O’Connor. He enjoyed an excellent second year in the Munster Rugby Academy, making seven senior appearances and scoring his first two tries for the province.
The 2024/25 season also saw the young full-back 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 Championship medals with Cork in hurling – at minor level in 2021, and with the Under-20s in 2023.
He flourished at PBC Cork and played a leading role as they won the 2023 Pinergy Munster Schools Boys Senior Cup.
He made his Munster debut within months of joining the Academy, against the Dragons in November 2023, and made his first Investec Champions Cup appearance against Bayonne a month later.
O’Connor started all five of Ireland’s matches during their unbeaten Under-20 Men’s Six Nations campaign in 2024. He was also part of the Ireland squad that reached the World Rugby U-20 Championship final the following summer.
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.
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. The pair had excellent seasons for Munster where they both made their first senior appearances for the province.
Chloe Pearse has been named the Bank of Ireland Women’s Player of the Year after another terrific campaign for club and province. Her father Niall received the award on her behalf.
Chloe captained Munster during the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship last year when 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 the Limerick native, who started an incredible 15 matches for UL Bohemian which included leading them to the Women’s Division title after a hugely exciting 29-24 win over Railway Union.
Pearse confirmed her retirement from provincial rugby last week, and signed off in the best way possible by helping Matt Brown’s charges to a first Women’s Interpro title since January 2023.
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 was ever-present for the Munstermen last season, and some of his 11 tries proved to be crucial ones, including the memorable hat-trick he scored in Belfast against Ulster to secure a hard-fought derby win.
There was also the try he grabbed against Stade Francais to help secure a vital home victory during the pool stages of the Investec Champions Cup.
The Dublin-born centre (31) also provided plenty of try assists and linebreaks throughout the campaign, and was rewarded for his creativity when he won the inaugural URC Playmaker Award for 2024/25.
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