Last year's Player of the Championship - Tommy Bowe (Left)
The final shortlist for the official RBS Player of the Championship of the 2011 RBS 6 Nations has been announced, with a fans’ poll deciding the result now open on www.rbs6nations.com
With England favourite to lift the trophy on Saturday, four English names dominate the shortlist of 12 players with Toby Flood, Chris Ashton, James Haskell and Tom Palmer all receiving a nod.
The shortlist also includes French captain Thierry Dusautoir and his team mate Maxime Medard, Sam Warburton and James Hook for Wales and Fabio Semenzato and Andrea Masi for Italy. Finally Sean O’Brian and Ronan O’Gara, for Ireland who will be looking to retain the award won by their team mate Tommy Bowe in 2010.
In a change from previous years, where a panel of experts selected the shortlist, all players awarded as RBS Man of the Match during the first four weekends of the 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.
Fans can vote for the 2011 RBS Player of the Championship at www.rbs6nations.com and voting will remain open until midnight on Sunday 20th March. Once the votes have been counted and verified, the announcement of the official RBS Player of the Championship will be made on Wednesday 23rd March on the RBS 6 Nations website.
RBS Player of the Championship – previous winners 2010 – Tommy Bowe 2009 – Brian O’Driscoll 2008 – Shane Williams 2007 – Brian O’Driscoll 2006 – Brian O’Driscoll
RBS 6 Nations Man of the Match 2011
Weekend 1
Wales v England Toby Flood England
Italy v Ireland Sean O’Brien Ireland
France v Scotland Maxime Medard France
Weekend 2
England v Italy Chris Ashton England
Scotland v Wales Sam Warburton Wales
Ireland v France Thierry Dusautoir France
Weekend 3
Italy v Wales Fabio Semenzato Italy
England v France Tom Palmer England
Scotland v Ireland Ronan O’Gara Ireland
Weekend 4
Italy v France Andrea Masi Italy
Wales v Ireland James Hook Wales
England v Scotland James Haskell England