Marcus Smith and three England teammates get European Player of the Year nominations

Early days yet, but a real boost to all the nominated lads.

The EPCR has released the names of 15 nominees for early voting in the race for the European Player of the Year prize. It includes Harlequins and England duo Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt. With the pool stages of the Challenge and Champions Cup now complete, the tournament organisers asked their expert panel of pundits, scribes and former players to get back with the players that have most impressed them. There are four English players included in the long-list of 15 nominees, along with the likes of Damian Penaud, Caelan Doris and Antoine Dupont.

Four England players nominated for European Player of the Year

The knock-out stages of the Champions and Challenge Cups will commence in April with Last 16 fixtures taking place over two legs. We will then have quarter and semi-finals before the final, which will be held in Marseilles in late May. One suspects that players that step up and perform well in the knock-outs can yet force themselves into this 'Best Player' shortlist. As it stands, here are the four England players currently in contention for the accolade:

• Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
• George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
• Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)
• Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)

https://twitter.com/ChampionsCup/status/1488497888313421831 The judging panel is, as follows, Erik Bonneval (beIN SPORTS), Bryan Habana (two-time Heineken Champions Cup winner with Toulon), Lee McKenzie (Channel 4), Alan Quinlan (Virgin Media) and Dimitri Yachvili (France Télévisions). There are five Irish players also nominated - Mike Lowry (Ulster), Jimmy O'Brien (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster), Jack O'Donoghue (Munster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster). If you compelled to get voting for the European Player of the Year, four months before the season is over, get cracking. For now, we reckon we will hold off on voting and just enjoy a cracking few months of club rugby ahead. The future is, as yet, unwritten...

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