Rugby

Four Leinster players nominated for European Player of the Year award

Winner will be announced following the Champions Cup final on Saturday May 22nd

Robbie Henshaw is one of four Leinster players to be nominated for the EPCR European Player of the Year 2021 award. File photograph: Inpho

Wed Apr 14 2021 - 10:37

Four Leinster players have made the list of 15 nominees for the EPCR European Player of the Year 2021 award.

Irish internationals Tadhg Furlong, Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan and Josh van der Flier are all in the running for the Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy.

Toulouse also have four nominees in Antoine Dupont, Jerome Kaino, Julien Marchand and Romain Ntamack.

La Rochelle, who have booked a place in the semi-finals for the first time in their history, have clearly impressed the expert panel of judges as five of their in-form players, Grégory Alldritt, Levani Botia, Kevin Gourdon, Raymond Rhule and Will Skelton have been nominated.

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Matthieu Jalibert of Bordeaux-Bègles and ASM Clermont Auvergne's Kotaro Matsushima complete the list. Former Munster and Ireland backrow Alan Quinlan is on the panel of judges, along with former French players Erik Bonneval and Dimitri Yachvili, South African World Cup winner Bryan Habana, and the BBC's Sonja McLaughlan. Voting for the award is available online here.

The list will be reduced to five players in early May, following the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup semi-finals, by a combination of the public vote and the verdict of the judges. Players who have not been included in the initial list of 15, but who make a significant impact in a semi-final match, may be considered for the shortlist.

The voting will then re-open and the winner of the 2021 award will be announced following the Champions Cup final on Saturday May 22nd.

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