Four French nominees for 6N award
Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:56
The final six-man shortlist for the official Six Nations Player of the Championship has been announced with four French players in the running, while Wales and Ireland have one each.
With France now favourites to lift the trophy on Saturday, four French names dominate the shortlist with Imanol Harinordoquy, Mathieu Bastareaud, Morgan Parra and Thierry Dusautoir all receiving a nod. The 2008 winner of the award, Shane Williams, offers a Welsh nomination and Ireland's Tommy Bowe finishes the list of players competing for the accolade.
A panel of former internationals from all six nations submitted their top three nominations, from which the shortlist of six nominees was compiled. Panelists included BBC Sport pundits Keith Wood, Raphaël Ibañez and Jonathan Davies, RBS RugbyForce supporters Andy Nicol, Ieuan Evans and Jason Leonard, as well as former RBS Ambassador Alessandro Moscardi who ensured an Italian vote was cast. The panel were asked to base their decision on performance, form and achievement throughout this year's Tournament so far.
Despite the France's championship victories of 2006 and 2007, Brian O'Driscoll has taken the trophy home to Dublin in three out of the past four years, proving that the winner is not always awarded to a member of the winning team. Shane Williams went on to win the highly coveted IRB Player of the Year award in the same year that he won the Six Nations award (2008), so victory for this year's winner is sure to be a sign of great things to come.
The 2010 Player of the Championship will be decided as a result of a public vote, hosted on the official Six Nations website. Voting will continue through the final week of the competition, and will close after the final round of matches, at Midnight on Monday, March 22.
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