By David Parsons
Cameron Winnett’s stellar first season in senior rugby has been crowned with him being named as the Welsh Rugby Writers’ Association Welsh Young Player of the Year for 2024.
The 21-year-old Cardiff Rugby full back not only nailed down the full back berth at his region but is now the proud owner of seven senior Welsh caps.
Having progressed through the Rhondda Schools rugby programme, Treorchy Youth and Coleg y Cymoeed, he joined the Cardiff Academy and found himself thrust into first team action soon after returning from the 2023 World Rugby Junior Championships in South Africa.
He got his first taste of senior action with Cardiff RFC in the Welsh Premiership in October 2021. Just a couple of months later, aged only 18, he found himself starting a Champions Cup match against Harlequins at The Stoop, with the bulk of the first-team squad stranded in South Africa due to Covid pandemic travel restrictions.
https://twitter.com/BBCSportWales/status/1844011181716971554
He marked the occasion with a try after just five minutes and looked very much at home. Since then he has grown in stature and made the most of the opportunities offered to him by regional coach Matt Sherratt and national coach Warren Gatland.
He was one of five uncapped players named in Gatland’s 2024 Wales Six Nations squad and he made his senior Wales debut against Scotland on 3 February. He was an ever present during the Six Nations and then started against the world champion Springboks at Twickenham and one of the two tests against Australian this summer.
“It was a crazy season to be honest, and I didn’t expect to be where I am now. I’m very grateful for the opportunities I’ve had and it’s been a good year,” said Winnett.
“The best moment of the year was definitely winning my first cap for Wales – it’s every kid’s dream. My cap is in my bedroom at the moment but I’m in the process of moving house so it’s going to go in a nice box on the wall where everyone can see it.
“I feel good and I’m still building on last season. Hopefully, I can take that experience into this one – I’m looking forward to it.
“I’ve taken a lot of confidence from the experiences I had last season. I’m quite a calm character and I don’t get too nervous.
“I keep myself to myself on game day and I’m just always ready to play rugby. That’s my character. I try to take every game as it comes.”
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Winnett was among a number of young stars from Cardiff who found themselves being promoted into the Wales side in their first senior season, joining Mackenzie Martin and Evan Lloyd. Alex Mann was another Arms Park youngster who won his first cap, but Winnett credits the senior players at the region for helping them all to develop so quickly.
“We’ve got a good group of boys here at Cardiff and the older heads have definitely helped me. We’re all helping each other and learning off each other,” added Winnett.
“When I was coming through Josh Adams was with the seniors and when I trained with them, he was always helping me. It’s been good because he’s very talkative and has been very good for me with advice – I’ve learned a lot from him.
“I just want to play as much as I can again this season and take my opportunities. My main goal is winning games for Cardiff and then hopefully to get back into the Wales squad for the Autumn Nations Series.
“That’s where I want to be. We had an awesome tour out in Australia, and I really enjoyed it – not just the rugby, just being out there.
“Playing a team like Australia was unbelievable. I watched them growing up with players like Israel Folau and Quade Cooper, so to play against Australia was good.
“It’s the intensity of playing at test match level that you learn pretty quickly. One mistake and you get punished, there is no room for error.”
ICYMI : Cam Winnett has been crowned the Welsh Rugby Writers’ Association Welsh Young Player of the Year for a breakthrough 2024 in both Blue & Black and the red of @WelshRugbyUnion .
Llongyfarchiadau Cam!https://t.co/JqPAGqNbU5 pic.twitter.com/NDW3WmOq9S
— Cardiff Rugby (@Cardiff_Rugby) October 9, 2024
Sherratt has been delighted with the progress made by his home-grown full back and still believes there is much more to come from him.
“I’ve been massively impressed with Cam. I didn’t really coach him much at first because he came in and trained with the first team on the back of being in the academy,” said Sherratt.
“He’d had some first team involvement but straight away when I saw him in training I could tell. First of all, he’s very consistent – he never misses a training session.
“He comes in and gets on with it every day, he’s quite a quiet lad but very professional. He talks on the pitch but isn’t one to stand up in meeting and say too much.
“He comes in, does his work, and keeps himself to himself but when you watch him train, he’s very consistent in all his actions. He’s got good feet and good hand speed and a good catch pass.
“It’s the little things I like though. He’s always scanning, he’s got a lot of natural ability, and I’m delighted he’s won the award. He deserves it.”
Congratulations to our young star at full back, Cameron Winnett, who yesterday was presented with the award for Welsh Rugby's Most Promising Player of the Year!
A huge thanks to the Welsh Rugby Writer's Association! #YmlaenCaerdydd pic.twitter.com/hbgxuTXqpC
— Cardiff Rugby (@Cardiff_Rugby) October 9, 2024
