World Rugby has announced the six man shortlist for the 2015 Player of the Year award. Those nominated are World Cup finalists Dan Carter, Michael Hooper, David Pocock and Julian Savea, along with Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw and Wales lock Alun Wyn Jones.
World Rugby had the following to say about each candidate:
DANIEL CARTER (NEW ZEALAND)
A two-time recipient of this award, in 2005 and 2012, Daniel Carter will play his 112th and final test for the All Blacks in the RWC 2015 final, bringing down the curtain on an illustrious 12-year career which has seen him score a world record 1,579 test points. Desperate to bow out with RWC success, having seen his 2011 tournament cut short by injury, the 33-year-old has been rolling back the years with some impressive performances in recent weeks.
MICHAEL HOOPER (AUSTRALIA)
The youngest of the six nominees, having only turned 24 yesterday, Michael Hooper became the fastest and second youngest player to reach 50 test caps in the semi-final win over Argentina. The perfect link man between forwards and backs, he is one third of the formidable Wallabies back row alongside Scott Fardy and fellow nominee David Pocock that have dominated the breakdown at RWC 2015.
ALUN WYN JONES (WALES)
A towering presence in the Wales second row, Alun Wyn Jones joined the club of rugby test centurions in their quarter-final exit to South Africa, combining his 94 Welsh caps with six for the British and Irish Lions. The 30-year-old anchors the front five and is a fierce competitor, not to mention an inspiring figure on and off the field. He has started all 10 of his tests in 2015, captaining Wales to victory in their warm-up match with Ireland in Dublin.
GREIG LAIDLAW (SCOTLAND)
Leading by example as Scotland captain, Greig Laidlaw bowed out of Rugby World Cup 2015 in the quarter-finals as the leading point-scorer with 79, 26 of them – including a crucial late try – coming in the 36-33 win over Samoa which confirmed his side’s place in the quarter-finals as Pool B runners-up. The proud 30-year-old started 12 of Scotland’s 14 tests this year and came off the bench in their pool victory over the USA.
DAVID POCOCK (AUSTRALIA)
The 27-year-old’s skills at the breakdown are legendary and he has been a thorn in many a team’s side at RWC 2015, unsurprisingly leading the statistics for turnovers with 14 to show he is back to his scavenging best after undergoing two major knee constructions in successive years. Nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year for the third time, David Pocock is both a calming and inspirational presence in the Wallabies back row.
JULIAN SAVEA (NEW ZEALAND)
The All Blacks winger has a try-scoring rate that few, if any, can match in world rugby, having crossed the try-line 38 times in 40 tests since his debut in June 2012. The 25-year-old, a former Junior Player of the Year who was nominated for this award in 2014, has scored eight tries at RWC 2015 to equal the record for a single tournament held by Jonah Lomu and Bryan Habana. He has scored two hat-tricks among that haul, including one in the quarter-final victory over France.
Who do you think should win the award? Vote in our poll below and leave your thoughts in the comments section.
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It all really depends on tomorrow’s game, but Pocock, for me, has been a stand out performer both when playing but also when not has his presence is missed, more so than Hooper was in this world cup.
Carter, whilst still a fine player, isn’t quite the player he was 5 or so years ago and has, on occasion in this world cup, looked his age. He may well prove me wrong tomorrow.
Savea is best placed to take Pocock, especially if he has a monster performance tomorrow.
Of the two NH players I feel Laidlaw is the most deserving as he has lead an over achieving Scotland team to within 2 minutes of the semi. He is the player Cotter has built the team around. AWJ, whilst a deserving shortlister, has not quite reached the same heights in a Wales team that should have at least reached a semi final.
Agree – Pocock clearly the stand-out player this RWC. Extraordinary. The Aussies do not look the same without him. To say that Wales “should have reached a semi-final” is a little severe given just how many players they lost – they did well to get out of a pool that no-one expected them to get out of after the Italy game…
Scotland have been so over-hyped. Yes they went close against Australia but they scored some very very fortunate tries and had WP Nel keeping them in the game.
Lost all their matches in the 6 nations.
Lost to France and Ire in the warm ups. Beat Italy twice.
At the world cup they beat an exhausted Japan, the USA and Samoa. Lost to SA.
I think they’ve still done well given their meagre playing resources.
But yes, they have been over hyped. Not to confuse “over hyped” with “actually pretty crap”.
Marcos Ayerza
As a Scottish fan this may sound bias but for me it should be between Laidlaw and Carter. Although Carter is great and this is his last year, he has been around so long it doesn’t seem like he really has done enough to beat the competition. England’s Mike Brown should be in there too and Mark Bennett should win most improved player if indeed there is such a thing. As a Scottish fan I think Laidlaw should win as he is an incredible leader for our country.