All five nominees for the prestigious Guinness Premiership Player of the Season award will be at Franklin's Gardens on Sunday to face each other in the first Guinness Premiership semi-final.
Northampton Saints' Chris Ashton, Phil Dowson and Soane Tonga'uiha have been nominated as Guinness Premiership Player of the Season, as has the Saracens duo of Schalk Brits and Ernst Joubert.
The nominations recognise the consistently high levels of form shown by the five players over the course of a long, but compelling Guinness Premiership season, with all five involved in the knock-out phase of the tournament and each hoping to propel their teams into a first ever Premiership Final at Twickenham.
Players nominated for the Discovery of the Season must be 21-years or under on the date of the Guinness Premiership Final to qualify, ruling out a number of young and hugely talented performers.
However, there is still a wealth of young English talent to choose from and both Northampton Saints and Saracens are again represented.
Courtney Lawes gained his first England cap this season and helped Northampton Saints into the Guinness Premiership semi-final, Heineken Cup quarter final and won an LV= Cup winners medal at Sixways.
Andy Saull has established himself as a first choice at Saracens, playing in 20 of the side's 22 league matches this season. Saull and Lawes will both hope to be involved with England this season on the back of strong showings for their clubs.
Also nominated for Discovery of the Season is another Guinness Premiership semi-finalist and England debutant, Ben Youngs.
Youngs finished third in the same awards category last year, but has started 16 of Leicester Tigers' 22 league matches this season, compared to just two starts in the three previous seasons combined. Youngs also emulated his father Nick by winning his first England cap against Scotland this year.
The future of the scrum-half position looks bright, with London Wasps' Joe Simpson also nominated. With the departure of Eoin Reddan and injury to Mark Robinson, the London Wasps management would have been looking to the youngster to nail down a first team shirt. Simpson played in fifteen of London Wasps' league matches, scoring his only try in the Big Game at Twickenham at Christmas time.
England U20 forward James Gaskell has made a big impression with Sale Sharks this season, with the local man involved in twelve of Sale Sharks' matches, scoring two tries, the most notable being a pacy effort against Harlequins on New Year's Day.
Three men have been nominated in the Director of Rugby of the Season category.
Richard Cockerill has a chance to retain his award after guiding Leicester Tigers to the top of the table for the second consecutive season.
Cockerill's East Midlands rival Jim Mallinder is also nominated after guiding Northampton Saints to runners-up spot in the league. Mallinder also coached his side to victory in the LV= Cup and the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup.
The final nominee is Leeds Carnegie Director of Rugby Andy Key. Continuing the East Midlands connection, former Leicester Tigers coach Key steered the Yorkshire side to tenth place in the league, with notable wins over both London Wasps and most recently London Irish away from home.
Six tries from this season have been selected to vie for the ***le of Try of the Season. They are as follows:
Kameli Ratuvou, Saracens v Leeds Carnegie, 25th October 2009
Andy Saull, Saracens v Harlequins, 17th April 2010
Charlie Sharples, Northampton Saints v Gloucester, 17th April 2010
Joe Maddock, London Wasps v Bath, 24th April 2010
Adam Powell, Northampton Saints v Saracens, 24th April 2010
Nick Abendanon, Bath v Leeds Carnegie, 8th May 2010
Once again, to recognise the fantastic depth and breadth of community work that goes on at the Guinness Premiership clubs, six clubs nominated players for the Community Player of the Season.
Olly Barkley, Bath Rugby
Mike Tindall, Gloucester Rugby
Richard Blaze, Leicester Tigers
Paul Sackey, London Wasps
The Northampton Saints squad
Hayden Smith, Saracens
The Guinness Premiership Awards take place at the Hilton Metropole on Tuesday 18th May 2010.
Guinness Premiership Player of the Season nominees:
Chris Ashton, Northampton Saints
Schalk Brits, Saracens
Phil Dowson, Northampton Saints
Ernst Joubert, Saracens
Soane Tonga'uiha, Northampton Saints
Discovery of the Season nominees:
James Gaskell, Sale Sharks
Courtney Lawes, Northampton Saints
Andy Saull, Saracens
Joe Simpson, London Wasps
Ben Youngs, Leicester Tigers
Director of Rugby of the Season nominees:
Richard Cockerill, Leicester Tigers
Andy Key, Leeds Carnegie
Jim Mallinder, Northampton Saints
The awards panel consisted of Chris Hewett (The Independent and Chairman, Rugby Union Writers' Club), Alastair Eykyn (BBC), Neale Harvey (Rugby Times), Miles Harrison (Sky Sports), Paul Morgan (Rugby World and Mail on Sunday), Dave Rogers (Getty Images) and Phil Winstanley (Rugby Director, Premier Rugby).
Past winners
Premiership Player of the Season
2008/9, Chris Robshaw, Harlequins
2007/8, James Simpson-Daniel, Gloucester Rugby
2006/7, Martin Castrogiovanni, Leicester Tigers
2005/6, Mike Catt, London Irish
2004/5, Martin Corry, Leicester Tigers
Young Player of the Season
2008/9, Jordan Turner-Hall, Harlequins
2007/8, Danny Cipriani, London Wasps
2006/7, Tom Rees, London Wasps
2005/6, Tom Varndell, Leicester Tigers
2004/5, Ollie Smith, Leicester Tigers
Director of Rugby of the Season
2008/9, Richard Cockerill, Leicester Tigers
2007/8, Dean Ryan, Gloucester Rugby
2006/7, Pat Howard, Leicester Tigers
2005/6, Philippe Saint-Andre, Sale Sharks
2004/5, John Wells, Leicester Tigers
------------------------
My bets:
Try: Maddock vs Wasps
Community: Don't care
Player of the Season: Brits
Discovery: Youngs
DOR: Mallender
Northampton Saints' Chris Ashton, Phil Dowson and Soane Tonga'uiha have been nominated as Guinness Premiership Player of the Season, as has the Saracens duo of Schalk Brits and Ernst Joubert.
The nominations recognise the consistently high levels of form shown by the five players over the course of a long, but compelling Guinness Premiership season, with all five involved in the knock-out phase of the tournament and each hoping to propel their teams into a first ever Premiership Final at Twickenham.
Players nominated for the Discovery of the Season must be 21-years or under on the date of the Guinness Premiership Final to qualify, ruling out a number of young and hugely talented performers.
However, there is still a wealth of young English talent to choose from and both Northampton Saints and Saracens are again represented.
Courtney Lawes gained his first England cap this season and helped Northampton Saints into the Guinness Premiership semi-final, Heineken Cup quarter final and won an LV= Cup winners medal at Sixways.
Andy Saull has established himself as a first choice at Saracens, playing in 20 of the side's 22 league matches this season. Saull and Lawes will both hope to be involved with England this season on the back of strong showings for their clubs.
Also nominated for Discovery of the Season is another Guinness Premiership semi-finalist and England debutant, Ben Youngs.
Youngs finished third in the same awards category last year, but has started 16 of Leicester Tigers' 22 league matches this season, compared to just two starts in the three previous seasons combined. Youngs also emulated his father Nick by winning his first England cap against Scotland this year.
The future of the scrum-half position looks bright, with London Wasps' Joe Simpson also nominated. With the departure of Eoin Reddan and injury to Mark Robinson, the London Wasps management would have been looking to the youngster to nail down a first team shirt. Simpson played in fifteen of London Wasps' league matches, scoring his only try in the Big Game at Twickenham at Christmas time.
England U20 forward James Gaskell has made a big impression with Sale Sharks this season, with the local man involved in twelve of Sale Sharks' matches, scoring two tries, the most notable being a pacy effort against Harlequins on New Year's Day.
Three men have been nominated in the Director of Rugby of the Season category.
Richard Cockerill has a chance to retain his award after guiding Leicester Tigers to the top of the table for the second consecutive season.
Cockerill's East Midlands rival Jim Mallinder is also nominated after guiding Northampton Saints to runners-up spot in the league. Mallinder also coached his side to victory in the LV= Cup and the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup.
The final nominee is Leeds Carnegie Director of Rugby Andy Key. Continuing the East Midlands connection, former Leicester Tigers coach Key steered the Yorkshire side to tenth place in the league, with notable wins over both London Wasps and most recently London Irish away from home.
Six tries from this season have been selected to vie for the ***le of Try of the Season. They are as follows:
Kameli Ratuvou, Saracens v Leeds Carnegie, 25th October 2009
Andy Saull, Saracens v Harlequins, 17th April 2010
Charlie Sharples, Northampton Saints v Gloucester, 17th April 2010
Joe Maddock, London Wasps v Bath, 24th April 2010
Adam Powell, Northampton Saints v Saracens, 24th April 2010
Nick Abendanon, Bath v Leeds Carnegie, 8th May 2010
Once again, to recognise the fantastic depth and breadth of community work that goes on at the Guinness Premiership clubs, six clubs nominated players for the Community Player of the Season.
Olly Barkley, Bath Rugby
Mike Tindall, Gloucester Rugby
Richard Blaze, Leicester Tigers
Paul Sackey, London Wasps
The Northampton Saints squad
Hayden Smith, Saracens
The Guinness Premiership Awards take place at the Hilton Metropole on Tuesday 18th May 2010.
Guinness Premiership Player of the Season nominees:
Chris Ashton, Northampton Saints
Schalk Brits, Saracens
Phil Dowson, Northampton Saints
Ernst Joubert, Saracens
Soane Tonga'uiha, Northampton Saints
Discovery of the Season nominees:
James Gaskell, Sale Sharks
Courtney Lawes, Northampton Saints
Andy Saull, Saracens
Joe Simpson, London Wasps
Ben Youngs, Leicester Tigers
Director of Rugby of the Season nominees:
Richard Cockerill, Leicester Tigers
Andy Key, Leeds Carnegie
Jim Mallinder, Northampton Saints
The awards panel consisted of Chris Hewett (The Independent and Chairman, Rugby Union Writers' Club), Alastair Eykyn (BBC), Neale Harvey (Rugby Times), Miles Harrison (Sky Sports), Paul Morgan (Rugby World and Mail on Sunday), Dave Rogers (Getty Images) and Phil Winstanley (Rugby Director, Premier Rugby).
Past winners
Premiership Player of the Season
2008/9, Chris Robshaw, Harlequins
2007/8, James Simpson-Daniel, Gloucester Rugby
2006/7, Martin Castrogiovanni, Leicester Tigers
2005/6, Mike Catt, London Irish
2004/5, Martin Corry, Leicester Tigers
Young Player of the Season
2008/9, Jordan Turner-Hall, Harlequins
2007/8, Danny Cipriani, London Wasps
2006/7, Tom Rees, London Wasps
2005/6, Tom Varndell, Leicester Tigers
2004/5, Ollie Smith, Leicester Tigers
Director of Rugby of the Season
2008/9, Richard Cockerill, Leicester Tigers
2007/8, Dean Ryan, Gloucester Rugby
2006/7, Pat Howard, Leicester Tigers
2005/6, Philippe Saint-Andre, Sale Sharks
2004/5, John Wells, Leicester Tigers
------------------------
My bets:
Try: Maddock vs Wasps
Community: Don't care
Player of the Season: Brits
Discovery: Youngs
DOR: Mallender
