ERC European Player of the Year 2014 longlist to be announced after pool stages
As the pool stages of the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup reach their conclusion, ERC, the governing body of European club rugby’s two tournaments, is beginning the search for the outstanding player who will follow in the footsteps of Jonny Wilkinson and become the ERC European Player of the Year 2014.
The Toulon captain won the prestigious title in 2013 after helping his club to capture the Heineken Cup for the first time following a dramatic final victory over French rivals ASM Clermont Auvergne.
Please find attached the ERC European Player of the Year logo
The quest is now underway again to find this season’s winner, and a longlist of 15 contenders, based on the pool stage performances of players from the 44 clubs in both the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup competitions, will be announced after the Round 6 games following nominations from a Judging Panel.
The Judging Panel will also have the option to consider additional players who make outstanding contributions during the quarter-final and semi-final matches for their five-man shortlist following the semi-finals with the overall winner named directly after the Cardiff 2014 finals weekend in May.
In addition to the decision of the panel, the 44 clubs in ERC’s tournaments will also have the opportunity to vote for contenders on the shortlist while supporters will also have their say on Twitter using #ERCPlayer2014 and on the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup Facebook pages.
The Judging Panel for this season’s award is: Stuart Barnes (Sky Sports), Mick Cleary (Daily Telegraph), Emmanuel Massicard (Midi Olympique), Emile Ntamack (three-time Heineken Cup winner with Toulouse) and Gerry Thornley (Irish Times).
Previous winners: Ronan O’Gara (Munster Rugby – best player of first 15 years of ERC’s tournaments); Sean O’Brien (Leinster Rugby) 2011; Rob Kearney (Leinster Rugby) 2012; Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon) 2013
Notes
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.
From the 2010/11 season, the ERC European Player of the Year award has been presented to the best player of the season from the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup. The winner is selected by a panel of five experts in conjunction with the 44 clubs from the two competitions with supporters also given the opportunity to vote on the shortlist.
A shortlist of five players will be announced following the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup semi-finals (25/26/27 April) and the ERC European Player of the Year 2014 will be announced after the Cardiff finals weekend of 23/24 May.
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