Murray Kinsella reports from London
WORLD RUGBY HAVE confirmed the three nominees for the inaugural Breakthrough Player of the Year award, with the winner set to be announced at the World Rugby Awards dinner in London on 1 November.
New Zealand wing Nehe Milner-Skudder, Scotland centre Mark Bennett and Georgia Vasil Lobzhanidze are the three nominees.
Milner-Skudder has been in sizzling form on the right wing for New Zealand in this World Cup, scoring five tries in five starts and impressing with his sensational footwork, acceleration and offloading ability.
Glasgow midfielder Bennett was a similarly potent attacking weapon for the Scots in their run to the World Cup quarter-finals, the 22-year-old dotting down three times in his four games.
Lobzhanidze, meanwhile, became the youngest player in World Cup history at 18 years and 340 days when he started Georgia’s opening win over Tonga. The scrum-half made three further appearances in the pool stages, just months after guiding the Georgia U20s to a World Rugby U20 Trophy.
Milner-Skudder is the only player of the three involved in Saturday’s World Cup final, when a strong performance from the 24-year-old Hurricanes flyer would surely see him strengthen his position as favourite for the award.
