Eight Irish players nominated for European Player of the Year award

Over half of the nominees are Irish.

Eight Irish players have been nominated for the EPCR European Player of the Year award. Leinster trio Sean Cronin, Tadhg Furlong and Garry Ringrose, who helped the province win the Champions Cup in 2018, are nominated. As are Munster and Ireland stars Tadhg Beirne, Joey Carbery and Peter O'Mahony. Ulster's Jacob Stockdale has also been rewarded for his impressive form with a nomination. Simon Zebo of Racing 92 is the final Irish nominee for the award. There are 15 nominees in total and the longlist is set to be reduced to five players following the Champions Cup semi-finals in April. The voting will then re-open and the winner will be announced after the Champions Cup final at St James' Park on May 11. The award will be decided by a judging panel of experts and a public vote. Here are the 15 nominees:

Tadhg BEIRNE (Munster Rugby) Joey CARBERY (Munster Rugby) Sean CRONIN (Leinster Rugby) Antoine DUPONT (Toulouse) Tadhg FURLONG (Leinster Rugby) Alex GOODE (Saracens) Cheslin KOLBE (Toulouse) Viliame MATA (Edinburgh Rugby) Leone NAKARAWA (Racing 92) Peter O’MAHONY (Munster Rugby) Garry RINGROSE (Leinster Rugby) Finn RUSSELL (Racing 92) Jacob STOCKDALE (Ulster Rugby) Mako VUNIPOLA (Saracens) Simon ZEBO (Racing 92)

And here is the judging panel:

Bryan Habana (Channel 4), Chris Jones (BBC Radio 5 Live), Matthieu Lartot (France Télévisions), Emmanuel Massicard (Midi Olympique), Brian O’Driscoll (BT Sport), Dimitri Yachvili (beIN Sports).

You can vote here.