THE EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES of the provinces throughout the pool stages of the Heineken Champions Cup is reflected in the fact eight Irish players have been nominated for the 2019 EPCR Player of the Year award.
Defending champions Leinster and Munster are represented strongly with three nominations each, while Ulster’s Jacob Stockdale is in the running for his try-scoring exploits.
Simon Zebo is one of three Racing 92 players included on the 15-man longlist for the prestigious accolade, alongside last year’s winner Leone Nakarawa and Finn Russell.
Sean Cronin, who scored six tries as Leinster advanced through to the quarter-finals as Pool 1 winners, Garry Ringrose and Tadhg Furlong are nominated after excellent performances for Leo Cullen’s side.
After finishing the pool stages as top points scorer [68] in the competition, Joey Carbery receives a well-deserved nomination alongside Munster and Ireland team-mates Peter O’Mahony and Tadhg Beirne, who made the most turnovers with 13.
Stockdale, meanwhile, helped Ulster to a first quarter-final in five years as he crossed six times during their Pool 4 campaign, narrowly missing out on becoming just the third player [behind Felipe Contepomi and Tommy Bowe] to score a try in all six pool games.
Racing winger Zebo completes the Irish representation after his brace of tries in the round six win over Scarlets not only helped the French club to advance as second seeds, but brought his European tally to 28 and moved the Cork native up to sixth on the all-time try-scoring list.
The list of nominees will be whittled down to five in April following the Champions Cup quarter and semi-finals by a combination of public vote and the verdict of judges, including Brian O’Driscoll, Bryan Habana and Dimitri Yachvili.
Players who have not been included on the initial list of nominations, but who make a significant impact for their side in the knockout stages, may be considered for the shortlist.
The 2019 winner will be announced following the Champions Cup final at St James’ Park in Newcastle on 11 May, and voting is now open here.
Previous Irish winners of the award include Rob Kearney [2012], Sean O’Brien [2011] and Ronan O’Gara [2010].
EPCR Player of the Year 2019 nominees:
- Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby)
- Joey Carbery (Munster Rugby)
- Sean Cronin (Leinster Rugby)
- Antoine Dupont (Toulouse)
- Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby)
- Alex Goode (Saracens)
- Cheslin Kolbe (Toulouse)
- Viliame Mata (Edinburgh Rugby)
- Leone Nakarawa (Racing 92)
- Peter O’Mahony (Munster Rugby)
- Garry Ringrose (Leinster Rugby)
- Finn Russell (Racing 92)
- Jacob Stockdale (Ulster Rugby)
- Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
- Simon Zebo (Racing 92).
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
