Owen Farrell....IRB Player Of The Year??

Clegg

The International Rugby Board has announced the shortlist of nominees for the prestigious IRB Player of the Year 2012 Award.

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw, his teammate Dan Carter, England fly half Owen Farrell and France fly half Frédéric Michalak are the four players on the shortlist.

The IRB Player of the Year nominees were selected by the IRB Awards independent panel of judges, which is chaired by Australia’s RWC 1999 winning captain John Eales and is made up of former internationals with more than 500 caps and four Rugby World Cup winners’ medals between them.

The IRB Awards panel comprises some of the biggest names in the Game in Will Greenwood, Gavin Hastings, Raphaël Ibanez, Francois Pienaar, Agustín Pichot, Scott Quinnell, Tana Umaga and Paul Wallace.

The panel have deliberated on every major Test played in 2012, starting with the opening RBS 6 Nations match and culminating with the November Internationals. In total they have watched around 100 hours of action, awarding points to the three players they thought stood out in each match.

“This has been one of the closest years to date. In fact the result could be influenced significantly by this weekend’s matches, making it a highly contested prize,” said panel chairman Eales.

Among those players unlucky to miss out on the shortlist are New Zealand number 8 Kieran Read, Australian duo Michael Hooper and Berrick Barnes, Scotland’s Ross Rennie, Springbok wing Bryan Habana and Argentina’s inspirational captain Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe.

This is just baffling. He's a very average 10 and an even more average 12. He wasn't particularly impressive in the 6 Nations either.

tolosenc

I...

But...

Wha?

Burgo

This is just for International games right?
If so, how many games has Michalak played for france? just the AI's?

thomond2006

How Lobbe isn't there is astounding.

Clegg

Dan Lydiate should have at least gotten a mention. Farrell has done nothing of note since the 6 Nations ffs.

molloyjh

Who should be there for the NH though?

Aiden7

What a disgrace JJ is not on that list

Clegg

molloyjh wrote: »

Who should be there for the NH though?

Lydiate
Best
Halfpenny

GerM

Kearney. Gray. Etzebeth. Lobbe. Dagg. Habana. Lydiate. A barrow full of compost. Andy f*cking Farrell.

All better options than Owen Farrell. That's the worst and most inexplicable selection I've seen in the history of the award. He has been dropped for the past 5 games and many have tipped Freddie Burns to get the nod ahead of him for this weekend.

Tox56

Owen Farrell????

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

JoeyDoh

That's an absolute disgrace, really diminishes the significance of the award!

ssaye

Tox56 wrote: »

Owen Farrell????

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

What if he wins? :eek:

Pointless awards really. McCaw and Carter etc know they are world class without the IRB piss up day and photo-op.

Scioch

Was McCaw particularly impressive this year or is it a formality now that he must be on the shortlist ?

Hype710

That's just hilarious. I'd say even he's embarrassed by it, his inclusion will be mocked worldwide.

My 5 would probably be all from NZ tbh, they've been a class apart as a team and as individuals; McCaw, Carter, Read, Dagg and Conrad Smith.

Max Power

Andy who?

Laughable

Teferi

Honestly, I've felt the whole process of this needs to be overhauled since BOD was passed over in 2009.

Glass Prison 1214

I dont want to live on this planet anymore.....

danthefan

Pretty mind boggling. He's not even the best player at Saracens, never mind the world.

Glass Prison 1214

danthefan wrote: »

Pretty mind boggling. He's not even the best player at Saracens, never mind the world.

Hes not even the best outhalf at the Saracens.

ssaye

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

Hes not even the best outhalf at the Saracens.

I think they just judged the English TEST performances not Saracens but STILL, STILLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

thomond2006

ROG > Owen Farrell

leftleg

thomond2006 wrote: »

ROG > Owen Farrell

damn you beat me to it

ssaye

thomond2006 wrote: »

ROG > Owen Farrell

Above IRB shortlist standard :pac:

Benny Cake

They're just lining him up for the Lions jersey....

Glass Prison 1214

thomond2006 wrote: »

ROG > Owen Farrell

ROG > NOC > Owen Farrell

Tox56

Among those players unlucky to miss out on the shortlist are New Zealand number 8 Kieran Read, Australian duo Michael Hooper and Berrick Barnes, Scotland’s Ross Rennie, Springbok wing Bryan Habana and Argentina’s inspirational captain Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe.

This is almost as baffling..

danthefan

thomond2006 wrote: »

ROG > Owen Farrell

Lets not get carried away now.

ssaye

Tox56 wrote: »

This is almost as baffling..

Scotland’s Ross Rennie

Dare I say Scottish tokenism by Hastings, I mean IRB player of the year for gods sake

Glass Prison 1214

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

ROG > NOC

Lets not get carried away now.

wp_rathead

Lobbe
Carter
North

there IRB, there is a list

thomond2006

wprathead wrote: »

Lobbe
Carter
North

there IRB, there is a list

Eztebeth has been a revelation this season (Victor who?), he should be in there as well.

GerM

Rennie has had an excellent year. Absolutely works his arse off in a beaten pack for Scotland. His work rate and tackling has been freakish. I would have understood him being nominated a lot more than some others.

.ak

Reid for me.

.ak

Actually, why is there no Welsh players on it?

Glass Prison 1214

.ak wrote: »

Reid for me.

For a second there i was thinking of Noel..... :O

its_phil

Farrell and Michalak nomination really makes me feel not so bad about BOD never winning it.

It's a joke of an award, it should be done like the Fifa Awards where the coach and captain of each nation (top 16) nominate their player of the year.

JustinDee

In the words of Nigel Tufnel, "This a joke?".
Owen Farrell??

Oh well.

thebaz

Read for me too , but I have such admiration for McCaw's determination (BOD esque)

.ak

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

For a second there i was thinking of Noel..... :O

Typo. But now that you mention it....

Swiwi

OK, from a NZ point of view I guess I'm happy McCaw & DC are there, and would agree that McCaw deserves consideration as he has been pretty influential this year, and certainly in better form (injury free) than in 2011, but DC has been solid at best, with the exception of the Scottish game where he was great. But no Kieran Read?

Other countries also have reason to be miffed - no Lobbe, no Habana, and some of the Welsh players had pretty handy 6N, even if their form has waned in recent times.

These awards are becoming a bit of a joke, even I, as a Kiwi, can honestly say BOD had a better season than McCaw whenever it was that he missed out on the prize.

The players association awards are often a better reflection of who's hot, and from a NZ perspective the NZRFU end of season awards usually get it right.

So, in summary, a baffling selection for try of the year and player of the year from the IRB.

irishbucsfan

There MUST be some sort of mistake?

I like Farrell, but he isn't even starting for England

Mr.Prodston

Surely George North or Cuthbert of Wales should be there. Hell let's go wild and suggest Sexton or Donncha Ryan. Dan Lydiate surey.

I mean Owen Farrell, I saw that and assumed Young Player and even then that's a stretch..

thebaz

Mr.Prodston wrote: »

Hell let's go wild and suggest Sexton or Donncha Ryan. .

certainly Gilroy for player of the month

maroondog

Will Farrell even be on the plane to Australia next year?? He would do well be top 4 nomination list for English player of the year let alone world player of the year.

Swiwi

Scioch wrote: »

Was McCaw particularly impressive this year or is it a formality now that he must be on the shortlist ?

Yes he was. Single-handedly won games for NZ, especially the test v SA in Dunedin where he was the standout in an otherwise turgid AB performance. Back to his best, but of course being McCaw and all the jibes come thick & fast.

On the other hand, your comment would seem to apply more to Carter, who I am surprised to see make the list.

In any case, the panel is from both hemispheres, including Ireland's own Paul Wallace, so at least it's in theory impartial.

twinytwo

why do they bother with this???... why not just call it the "richie mccaw is awesome award" and give it to him ever year

Liam90

twinytwo wrote: »

why do they bother with this???... why not just call it the "richie mccaw is awesome award" and give it to him ever year

What?!?! The issue is Farrell being on the list. McCaw should be on the list, he has been immense this year.

Dagg and Reid also deserve a mention.

Phonehead

Owen Farrell WTF.............. I honestly laughed when I saw the thread title, thinking what a great spoof this is and let's see who falls for it! then I read the nominations and see this is for real. And the IRB wonder why there is no credibility in this award? McCaw will win and deserves it but it's been made worthless by the fact that Farrell was even in the running.

Swiwi

Phonehead wrote: »

Owen Farrell WTF.............. I honestly laughed when I saw the thread title, thinking what a great spoof this is and let's see who falls for it! then I read the nominations and see this is for real. And the IRB wonder why there is no credibility in this award? McCaw will win and deserves it but it's been made worthless by the fact that Farrell was even in the running.

In fairness, Farrell did have a reasonable 6N. The problem with the system is that they award a ranking of 1, 2 or 3 for each game, and I think cumulative best total wins. That means Farrell might have picked up points from some of the 6N games, and even though he has otherwise been pretty average this season, there is no "negative marking" and so his points total leaves him in the running.

Phonehead

Swiwi wrote: »

In fairness, Farrell did have a reasonable 6N. The problem with the system is that they award a ranking of 1, 2 or 3 for each game, and I think cumulative best total wins. That means Farrell might have picked up points from some of the 6N games, and even though he has otherwise been pretty average this season, there is no "negative marking" and so his points total leaves him in the running.

Reasonable but he definitely wasn't anywhere near the best player on show in the tournament. The system is quiet clearly useless if it allows for an average player to make it into the top 3 list.

tgdaly

Is a pity the IRB player of the year award is only taken from the international matches, not like Fifa player of the year which would take both club and country into account. Isn't fair on a guy like Isa Nacewa who only plays for Leinster, but who I firmly believe would make any team in the world, including the All Blacks.