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Exciting Fijian pair recognised among Europe's best

24 Jan 2019

Richard Cockerill and Bill Mata celebrate Edinburgh's win over Toulon... these are the type of fixtures Nic Groom can't wait to experience again following his previous stint in Europe (Photo by Getty Images)

Edinburgh and Fiji Number Eight Bill Mata has been recognised as one of European rugby’s best players after being nominated for the prestigious EPCR European Player of the Year award.

Mata made headlines recently for a silky offload he produced against Toulon.

OFFLOAD GOALS ?
Big Bill Mata with one of the most ridiculous offloads you'll see all season as Edinburgh score one of the tries of the tournament so far ?
Utterly magical!! pic.twitter.com/vl02mvWECP
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 12, 2019

Last year’s winner also hails from Fiji, Racing 92 and Fijian national team forward Leone Nakarawa. Nakarawa is up for the award again, as are his Racing 92 teammates Finn Russell and Simon Zebo.

Nakarawa’s Racing are set for a massive Champions Cup quarter-finals clash against Toulouse, who have two Player of the Year nominees within their ranks in halfback Antoine Dupont and wing Cheslin Kolbe.

Irish players assume over half of the 15 available nominee slots with eight players nominated. England have just two representatives in Saracens Alex Goode and Mako Vunipola.

Current Cup holders Leinster have three nominees in the form of Sean Cronin, Tadhg Furlong and Garry Ringrose.

The current list of 15 will be culled to five finalists in April after the Champions Cup semi-finals. The top five will be decided by a combination of the public vote and a panel of judges.

EPCR European Player of the Year award 2019 nominees:
Tadhg BEIRNE (Munster Rugby)
Joey CARBERY (Munster Rugby)
Sean CRONIN (Leinster Rugby)
Antoine DUPONT (Toulouse)
Tadhg FURLONG (Leinster Rugby)
Alex GOODE (Saracens)
Cheslin KOLBE (Toulouse)
Viliame MATA (Edinburgh Rugby)
Leone NAKARAWA (Racing 92)
Peter O’MAHONY (Munster Rugby)
Garry RINGROSE (Leinster Rugby)
Finn RUSSELL (Racing 92)
Jacob STOCKDALE (Ulster Rugby)
Mako VUNIPOLA (Saracens)
Simon ZEBO (Racing 92)

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Comments on RugbyPass

RedWarriors 14 minutes ago

Jordie Barrett produces man-of-the-match showing after benching drama

Serious mistake omitting Barrett for NH. Serious questions remain why the predictable curve balls available to NH against the rush defense were not mitigated for in advance. Leinster did not get tested for the first two rounds but the test was coming.

Look also at the incorrect decision re taking 3 points after the O’Brien ‘penalty where it lands’. The same conference has been happenning for years with the correct decision not often found.

In the URC v Connaught a kick to the corner refusing ane asy kick lead to a Connacht turnover and yellow for Leinster. Connacht scored a try and attacked again for the match against 14. They created an overlap and the tackle of the match saved them before the overlap could be cashed in. Leinster had another kickable penalty and amazingly the conference started again. Barrett ordered a kick at goal to put it out of reach. He was the man who had also saved/won the match for them with that penalty.

Why was this botched decision making not reviewed and eliminated in that match?

It honestly looks like the leadership hole left by Johnny Sexton has not been filled by the coaching group.

3 Go to comments

BA 39 minutes ago

An England 23 Borthwick could pick after the Lions squad announcement

If England can beat Pumas over there without their top guns would be big scalp especially if Pumas are at full noise

8 Go to comments

Carlos 2 hours ago

Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster

Felipe and Manuel went to Cardinal Newman school and rugby club, ran by Irish priests. One of them left to found St Brendan’s. Newman, St. George’s and St Andrew’s are the traditional upper class Anglo schools of Buenos Aires. Only Newman now sustains great rugby. St George’s previously did and St Andrew’s was a feeder to many clubs.

In 1970 Ireland toured Argentina and the team visited Hurling Club near the city and left them their kits at the end of the tour. The party was memorable. My mother and three brothers played field hockey for Hurling. Also, some of the players visited St Brendan’s.

Some years ago, I met Barry Bresniham at a rheumatology meeting. Sadly he passed away of a brain tumor. Barry was a very charming man and we spoke about that 1970 visit. St Brendan’s posted a picture of him on the front door of the school.

I do know about the Irish. I sincerely appreciate and enjoy Mzilikazi here, for example. But you sound like the Aussie fan OJ. Angry and defensive. Be like the Irish I know and not like a sourpuss.

200 Go to comments

Carlos 2 hours ago

Why ‘the curse of the Bambino’ is still stronger than ever at Leinster

I’m an Argie. We first scrum.

200 Go to comments

DC 2 hours ago

Farrell puts his reputation on the line knowing tougher challenges lie ahead

The Lions are a scratch team of players who rarely ever play together. For them to win, they need to be based on the best Home Nation (which still probably Ireland) with a smattering of players from the other nations.

Bare in mind that in 2001 they played the world champions. 2005 they played the greatest NZ team in the history of the All Blacks. 2009 and 2021 SA were the world champions. And NZ were the world champions in 2017. The only series the Lions have won in recent years was against Australia, who were significantly weaker than the other SH teams.

11 Go to comments

Ed the Duck 2 hours ago

Leo Cullen 'completely, 100 per cent' understands Leinster fan frustration

Hard to test them when they’re rested the week before or left on the bench, don’t you think?

2 Go to comments

JD 4 hours ago

Marcus Smith backed to beat rivals to Lions Test jersey

They are, except when it comes to 10.

Assuming Russell starts as test 10 you have no back up on the pitch. The only option is Kinghorn, but he would need to fill in there during warm up matches which is unlikely.

Only option is Smith in the 23 shirt. This again assumes Kinghorn starting 15. Based on current form that is the case.

Personally I prefer the conventional 5:3 split for the most part.

8 Go to comments

RedWarriors 4 hours ago

Leo Cullen 'completely, 100 per cent' understands Leinster fan frustration

The point is the ‘Team are not pushing forward’. The team are better in absolute terms but the tactical coaching is poor. If Leinster are not being challenged and weaknesses exposed in matches then that has to be done in the training ground.

That said individual players must take flak. A lot of ire was directed at Snyman, but McCarthy must take flak too. That said what on earth was Keenan doing attempting to rush against Freeman (first try) and Ramm last try. Both times he was caught in no mans land leaving a field of green behind him. For the first try he just needs to hold his ground a little to cover the kick. An overlap was not on. Keenan would have easily reached Freeman, but rishing up made the grubber 100% on.

The Ramm one was equally bizarre. Now NH had caught Leinster short, but they have alot of work to do if Keenan holds his ground. Again he rushed up meaning one pass to Ramm makes the try.

Some players can be rested for 3 weeks, some get rusty. Keenan is one of the latter. But he must do better. All Leinster needed was one of those tries to be averted. Just one.

2 Go to comments

Ed the Duck 4 hours ago

As the balance of power shifts away from Ireland, has Andy Farrell got his Lions calls right?