GP: And the nominations are ...
Tue, 13 May 2008 00:25
Following a thrilling final round of matches at the weekend, the nominees for the Guinness Premiership Awards have been announced - with Gloucester and Wasps dominating the main category.
Gloucester Rugby, who finished top of the Guinness Premiership, have two players nominated for the Player of the Season: wing James Simpson-Daniel and Fijian flank Akapusi Qera.
Simpson-Daniel was the third top try scorer in the league this season with nine tries and has been a constant threat in his 17 league matches, as well as scoring tries in his side's Heineken Cup campaign.
Qera is playing his first season in the Guinness Premiership having joined Gloucester from Birmingham-Solihull. Qera returned from a highly successful World Cup with Fiji to play a key role for the league leaders.
Second-placed London Wasps also saw two players nominated, flyhalf Danny Cipriani and wing Paul Sackey.
Cipriani won his first England cap this season and enjoyed an influential first start for his country by leading them to victory over Ireland in the final match of the Six Nations. For his club, Cipriani has been at the heart of a successful unbeaten run that has resulted in a home semifinal for Wasps this weekend.
Sackey has continued his form of last season, being one of England's best players in the World Cup and performing at a consistently high level for Wasps with his pace and strength.
Also nominated is Bath Rugby's England centre Olly Barkley.
Barkley has been instrumental in Bath Rugby's revival under Steve Meehan, playing most often at inside centre, but taking the flyhalf role with good effect when injury ruled out Butch James.
The Discovery of the Season category highlights the best young players in the league, with a large number of players eligible for this award.
Danny Cipriani was also nominated for this award, giving the Wasps and England star a 'double-double' of nominations in both player and young player categories in the PRA and Guinness Premiership Awards.
Joining Cipriani were two Harlequins players in Danny Care and Chris Robshaw. Both have been central to Harlequins' strong league form, which sees them hoping to gain a Heineken Cup place for a second consecutive season, having missed out on a Guinness Premiership semifinal place in the dying minutes on Saturday.
Completing the nominations are Bath Rugby's Matt Banahan and Sale Sharks' Ben Foden.
Banahan finished his first season of Guinness Premiership rugby as the league's second highest try scorer and helped his Bath Rugby team to third place in the league.
Foden has scored eight tries for Sale Sharks from the fullback berth, but will leave fifth place Sale for the returning Northampton Saints at the end of the season.
The nominations for the Director of Rugby of the Season are Steve Meehan, Dean Richards and Dean Ryan.
Ryan has again led his side to the top of the table, leading for all but one of the 22 rounds. Ryan has continued to mould and develop a team of talented young English players that qualified for a Heineken Cup quarterfinal and will aim to compete in their second consecutive Guinness Premiership Final at the end of May.
Steve Meehan has transformed Bath from a lower mid-table team into genuine title contenders and prospective winners of the European Challenge Cup. Bath are arguably playing the most dynamic rugby in the country and have edged themselves back in to familiar territory at the summit of the English game.
For his part, Quins' Director of Rugby Dean Richards has cemented Harlequins' place in the league and narrowly missed out on a semifinal place in the Guinness Premiership. As with the other Dean, Richards has built the foundations of his team on a group of dynamic young Englishmen which bodes well for club and country.
Also announced were the nominations for the Try of the Season.
The nominations in full are:
Player of the Season:
Olly Barkley, Bath Rugby
Danny Cipriani, London Wasps
Akapusi Qera, Gloucester Rugby
Paul Sackey, London Wasps
James Simpson-Daniel, Gloucester Rugby
Discovery of the Season:
Matthew Banahan, Bath Rugby
Danny Care, Harlequins
Danny Cipriani, London Wasps
Ben Foden, Sale Sharks
Chris Robshaw, Harlequins
Director of Rugby of the Season:
Steve Meehan, Bath Rugby
Dean Richards, Harlequins
Dean Ryan, Gloucester Rugby
Try of the Season:
Tom Guest, Leeds Carnegie v Harlequins - Sunday, April 13
Kai Horstmann, Sale Sharks v Worcester Warriors - Friday, February 29
Johne Murphy, Leicester Tigers v Bath Rugby - Saturday, September 22
James Simpson-Daniel, Gloucester Rugby v Bath Rugby - Saturday, May 10
Fraser Waters, London
Wasps v Leeds Carnegie - Sunday, September 30
Community Player of the Season:
Duncan Bell, Bath Rugby
Andy Kyriacou, Saracens
Joe Shaw, Newcastle Falcons
Sam Tuitupou, Worcester Warriors
Dave Walder, London Wasps
Also presented on the evening will be:
Team Performance of the Season
Try Scorer Award
Golden Boot
Dream Team
The awards take place on Wednesday, May 28 at The Great Hall, Stamford Bridge.
With thanks to guinnesspremiership.com
