As the finals weekend of the European club rugby season fast approaches, ERC have named a shortlist of five players who are in contention for the northern hemisphere’s most prestigious individual accolade, ERC European Player of the Year 2012.
The two Irish clubs who contest Saturday’s Heineken Cup final at Twickenham Stadium, Leinster Rugby and Ulster Rugby, have players nominated for the honour in Jonathan Sexton (Leinster Rugby), Rob Kearney (Leinster Rugby), Stephen Ferris (Ulster Rugby) and Ruan Pienaar (Ulster Rugby) while the list is completed by RC Toulon’s talisman Jonny Wilkinson who will feature in Friday’s Amlin Challenge Cup final against Biarritz Olympique at the Twickenham Stoop.
The ERC Judging Panel which drew up the shortlist comprises Stuart Barnes (Sky Sports), Raphael Ibanez (2011/12 Heineken Cup Ambassador), Stephen Jones (Sunday Times), Emmanuel Massicard (Midi Olympique) and Gerry Thornley (Irish Times)
The search for this season’s winner began in earnest following the pool campaigns in both tournaments and the panel was presented with an initial longlist of 15 contenders – which included Ferris, Pienaar and Sexton – as a starting point for the selection process.
Once the knockout stages got underway, the panel was able to consider players who had made major individual contributions in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup, and following stand-out performances for their respective clubs, Kearney and Wilkinson in particular, emerged as candidates.
Taking into account form over the pool and knockout stages of both tournaments, the panel then decided on its shortlist of five players, one of whom will be announced next week as ERC European Player of the Year 2012.
In addition to the decision of the panel, the 44 clubs in ERC’s two tournaments will also have the opportunity to vote along with supporters who can have their say via Twitter @ercrugby #ERCPlayer2012or on the official Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup Facebook pages www.facebook.com/heinekencupand www.facebook.com/amlinchallengecup
In 2010, ERC launched the highly acclaimed ERC15 Awards, recognising the efforts of a number of outstanding contributors to the first 15 years of European club rugby competition. Two-time Heineken Cup winner, Ronan O’Gara, was the inaugural recipient of the ERC European Player Award, as the best player over the first 15 years of the two tournaments. ERC15 was the catalyst for ERC choosing to recognise individual excellence across both of the European club rugby tournaments annually and in the 2010/11 season, the ERC European Player of the Year award was established with the inaugural recipient being Leinster’s Sean O’Brien.
Shortlist of candidates for ERC European Player of the Year 2012
– Stephen Ferris
(Back row, Ulster Rugby)
Stephen has been in outstanding form for Ulster Rugby in their thrilling run to a first Heineken Cup final in 13 years.
– Rob Kearney
(Full-back, Leinster Rugby)
Rob pushed himself into contention with two magnificent displays for Leinster Rugby in the knock-out stage wins over Cardiff Blues and ASM Clermont Auvergne. The full-back scored two tries against the Blues at the Aviva Stadium before dropping a superb goal and creating a try for Cian Healy against Clermont in Bordeaux.
– Ruan Pienaar
(Scrum-half, Ulster Rugby)
Ruan Pienaar of Ulster Rugby has totalled 71 points in pool and knockout stages to date in a series of incredibly polished performances
-Jonathan Sexton
(Out-half, Leinster Rugby)
Jonathan Sexton has been hugely impressive for Leinster Rugby with a personal haul of 88 points in this season’s Heineken Cup to date.
-Jonny Wilkinson
(Out-half, RC Toulon)
Jonny Wilkinson has been a key figure in Toulon’s powerful drive to a second Amlin Challenge Cup final with 17 points in the quarter-final success over last season’s champions, Harlequins, which was followed up by a match-winning haul of 27 points from seven penalties and two drop goals in the semi-final victory over Stade Francais Paris.