Hobbs won the award with votes from Premiership coaches and WRU elite performance development professionals and will receive £100 from Principality Building Society, title sponsors of the Premiership.
Hobbs said, “After competing in the Junior World Championship last summer, I set myself some personal goals, one of which was to gain twenty first team appearances for Pontypridd. I’ve achieved that and to get my Blues debut on the weekend was a brilliant end to the season for me personally.
“We have played well as a team at Pontypridd this season and it’s good to get some recognition, both in terms of awards like this but also in terms of the Blues coaches giving me a chance.
“We’ve done a lot of hard work within the Blues academy this season – I was set some conditioning targets and I have met those which have obviously had a positive impact on my game.
“Dale McIntosh has had a huge influence on me over the years. I was first coached by him as a 14 year old playing for the Merthyr / South Powys district side, and as I come from Brecon, where there aren’t too many top class rugby professionals, Dale really pushed me in the right direction. Nowadays, he is forwards coach with Ponty and skills coach at the Blues academy so he has continued to help my development a great deal.”
Hobbs played for Brecon RFC through junior and youth rugby until he joined Pontypridd at the start of the 2006/07 season. After a promising season with Pontypridd he hopes to continue where he left off when the new season kicks off.
“My aim now is to get a good pre-season under my belt and hopefully get a few more appearances for the Blues next season. However, if that doesn’t happen straight away, I’m also looking forward to the season with Pontypridd. We’re determined to do well again in the Principality Premiership and SWALEC Cup – and we’ve also got the fresh new challenge of the British and Irish Cup to look forward to.”
Dale McIntosh said, “Sam has a great attitude and work ethic, he is extremely keen to learn and there is no reason he shouldn’t make the step up to regional rugby, especially with the support Dai Young has shown for our upcoming youngsters. Sam is an intelligent player who can adapt to both sides of the scrum and he has worked very hard this season, particularly from a conditioning point of view, significantly improving his lean muscle mass. He will hopefully train with the senior Blues squad over the summer and I’m sure we will see a lot more of Sam in the future.”
Nicola Robinson, Manager of Pontypridd branch of Principality Building Society said, “Congratulations to Sam on winning the Principality Player of the Month award. Sam is a central figure in the Pontypridd team who contributed to their solid wins against Newport, Pontypool and Bridgend during April.
“This has been an exciting season of the Principality Building Society Premiership, the talent on the field has certainly raised the quality of the rugby. We look forward to August and the kick-off to a brand new season and wish Pontypridd every success.”
Sam Hobbs factfile
DoB: 13.5.88
Place of birth: Brecon
Club: Pontypridd
Nickname: Ram / The Brecon Ram
Player most admired: Gethin Jenkins
Sportsperson most admired: Mohammed Ali
Biggest impact on career: Dale McIntosh
Occupation: Studying sports coaching at UWIC
