RBS Player of the Championship – SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

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Probably Ashton for the Tries.
Sean O'Brien- Find of the 6Ns
For me - Haskell

I agree Haskell for me up to now

Surprised that Parisse didn't make the shortlist. Hook should be on it. Dusautoir would be by choice, he's been outstanding despite being let down by most of those around him. Interesting that other than Shane Irish players have dominated over the past 5 years (BOD winning three of them!). I suspect this year will follow the pattern of giving it to the glory boys and ignoring those that put in the hard graft

Sam the Loaf deserved a mention as he has worked his socks off. One to watch and so young aswell.

Really surprised that Parisse isn't on the shortlist.

RBS Player of the Championship vote sees Italy take the lead into the final weekend



Friday 18th March 2011– With over 7,000 votes already received on www.rbs6nations.com, the race for

RBS Player of the Championship has become a closely fought battle between the four leading contenders – Andrea Masi, Fabio Semenzato, Toby Flood and Chris Ashton.



Since the voting started on Monday of this week, the RBS 6 Nations website has seen fans racing to nominate their chosen player. Despite being only one place away from receiving the wooden spoon, Italy’s players are topping the leader board with Andrea Masi dominating since the competition opened with 21% of the votes. With the team’s spirits flying high since their win against France, the Italian players will be looking to put in another strong performance this weekend, which could boost votes further.



The full shortlist of twelve players is:

Fabio Semenzato (Italy), Toby Flood (England), Chris Ashton (England), Sean O’Brien (Ireland), Sam Warburton (Wales), Ronan O'Gara (Ireland), Andrea Masi (Italy), Maxime Medard (France), James Haskell (England), James Hook (Wales), Tom Palmer (England), Thierry Dusautoir (France).



With the vote remaining open until after the final weekend of matches (closing at 5pm on Monday 21st March), there is still a great deal for all twelve to play for. On track for a Grand Slam win, strong performances from England players Toby Flood and Chris Ashton could see both players climb the ranks in the final hours.

As seen in previous years, the fans’ votes over the final weekend will make all the difference to the result.



In a change from the 2010 competition, where a panel of experts selected the shortlist, all players awarded as RBS Man of the Match during the first four weekends of the 2011 Championship were automatically placed in contention for the prestigious award. The winner will be chosen by rugby fans from across the six nations who are being asked to vote for their RBS Player of the Championship, based on performance, form and achievement. Last year saw Ireland’s flying winger, Tommy Bowetake the RBS Player of the Championship, a clear winner with over 50% of the vote.

Once the votes have been counted and verified, the announcement of the official

RBS Player of the Championship will be issued to press during the following week. Opportunities for media access will be advised and confirmed nearer the time.