Star's welsh rugby exit announced 24 hours after wales squad blow

THE LATEST HEADLINES FROM WALES AND AROUND THE WORLD 17:16, 21 May 2025 These are your evening rugby headlines on Wednesday, May 21. WELSH-QUALIFIED STAR LEAVES REGION Welsh-qualified wing

Gabriel Hamer-Webb will leave Cardiff this summer, the region has confirmed. The 24-year-old wing, who is eligible for both Wales and England, joined the club on a short-term deal last

season before signing a permanent deal ahead of the current campaign - but will now leave Arms Park for pastures new. He has been linked with a move to Leicester Tigers in the Gallagher

Premiership after a fine end to the season. His last four games for Matt Sherratt's side saw him score seven tries, with an impressive Judgement Day hat-trick against the Ospreys

followed by tries against Munster, Bulls and the Stormers. Hamer-Webb's fine form saw him tipped for a potential call-up to Sherratt's Wales squad for the summer tour of Japan, but

uncapped Ospreys wing Keelan Giles was preferred instead. Cardiff confirmed the former Bath wing's exit on Wednesday afternoon as he thanked the club, team-mates and fans for their

support. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. "Thank you to the club for the opportunity to

represent the city that means so much to my family," said Hamer-Webb. "Most importantly, I'd like to thanks my team-mates and the fans for the many memories I am leaving

with." Article continues below WILLIAMS NOMINATED FOR TOP AWARD Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams is one of five players nominated for the Premiership Rugby player of the season award.

The 30-year-old has been a standout performer for Gloucester this season following his move from Cardiff last summer, with his impressive form seeing him named in Andy Farrell's British

& Irish Lions squad for this summer's tour of Australia. Williams has been nominated for the top award as part of a shortlist that also features fellow Lion Finn Russell as well as

Sale playmaker George Ford, Bath prop Thomas du Toit and Saracens back row Tom Willis. He is not the only Welshman put forward for an award, with Wales Women's coach Sean Lynn

nominated for the Premiership Women's Rugby director of rugby of the season gong, having led Gloucester-Hartpury to a third straight PWR title before joining the Welsh national set-up.

Among the players nominated for breakthrough player of the season is Northampton flanker and Lions call-up Henry Pollock, Gloucester prop Afolabi Fasogbon, Sale front row Asher

Opoku-Fordjour and Leicester centre Joseph Woodward. The winners will be announced at the Rugby Awards in London on June 3, with the awards from Premiership Rugby, Premiership Women's

Rugby, the Rugby Players' Association and Rugby Football Union all set to be presented at the same event. S4C TO SHOW TOP MATCH FOR FREE S4C have confirmed that they will provide

exclusive free-to-air live coverage of the Champions Cup final this weekend. Northampton Saints and Bordeaux will fight it out for European club rugby's top prize on Saturday, with the

Principality Stadium playing host to the hotly-anticipated clash. The Welsh broadcaster has confirmed that the final will be shown live across the UK on all S4C platforms, both on TV and on

online via S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer. It will also be broadcast on S4C Chwaraeon’s YouTube channel. English commentary will also be available across all of the platforms showing the game,

except for BBC iPlayer. The coverage will be fronted by Catrin Heledd, with the presenter joined by Lyn Jones, Sioned Harries, Shane Williams and Rhys Priestland for expert analysis.

Commentary will be provided in English by Gareth Charles, with Gareth Roberts delivering the Welsh-language commentary. Lauren Jenkins and Rhodri Gomer - who represented Saints between 2003

and 2007 - will also be reporting from the sidelines. Ahead of the final, S4C will also air a special programme celebrating 30 years of Welsh involvement in European rugby. _Wales Rugby in

Europe 30_ will be shown at 9pm on Thursday, May 22, and will be available on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer. WALES TO HOST GROUNDBREAKING EVENT The 2025 Six Nations Women's Summer Series,

which is aimed at offering future stars of the women's game international experience, will be held in Wales, it has been confirmed. The first edition of the competition, held in Parma

last year, led to 14 players earning their first caps for their respective senior teams during the recent Women's Six Nations. Those graduates included Wales forwards Maisie Davies and

Alaw Pyrs, who both featured under new boss Sean Lynn during the campaign. While the competition features predominantly U20 players, each of the participating Six Nations unions can also

include up to five U23 players in their matchday squad. This year's competition will be held at the Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach. Article continues below The series

will comprise three competitive match days, with fixtures to be held on Saturday July 5, Friday 11 and Thursday 17.