Deserved recognition.
The Ireland and British & Irish Lions trio of Tadhg Furlong, Sean O’Brien and Conor Murray have been named in the BBC’s Team of the Year.
BBC Sport users selected more than 100,000 teams of the year and the broadcaster collated the results to determine their combined team of the year.
Murray edged out New Zealand’s Aaron Smith 44% to 37% to secure the scrum-half spot, Tadhg Furlong secured 58% of the vote to obtain his spot in the front-row alongside Lions teammates Mako Vunipola and Jamie George, while Sean O’Brien saw off competition from Maro Itoje, Jerome Kaino and Peter O’Mahony to nail down a position at blindside flanker.
The Team of the Year nominations round off a fantastic year for the trio who were selected as members of Ireland Six Nations and November international squads, the Lions, as well as helping their sides to respective Champions Cup and PRO12 semi-finals.
Murray was also named the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Player of the Year.
