Premiership Award nominees named

Dream Debut: Qera nominated after strong year

Post a thrilling final round of matches on 'Super Saturday', the nominees for the Guinness Premiership 2007/08 Awards have been announced.

Top-of-the-table Gloucester have two players nominated for the Player of the Season: winger James Simpson-Daniel and Fijian flanker Akapusi Qera.

Simpson-Daniel was the third top try-scorer in the league this season with nine tries and has been a constant threat in his seventeen league matches, as well as scoring tries in his side's Heineken Cup campaign.

Qera is playing his first season in the Guinness Premiership having joined Gloucester from Birmingham-Solihull. Qera returned from a highly successful Rugby World Cup with Fiji to play a key role for the league leaders.

Second placed Wasps also have two players nominated: fly-half Danny Cipriani and winger Paul Sackey.

Cipriani won his first England cap this season and enjoyed an influential first start for his country by leading them to victory over Ireland in the final match of the Six Nations. For his club, Cipriani has been at the heart of a successful unbeaten run that has resulted in a home semi-final for Wasps this weekend.

Sackey has continued his form of last season, being one of England's best players in the Rugby World Cup and performing at a consistently high level for Wasps with his pace and strength.

Also nominated is Bath's in-form England back Olly Barkley.

Barkley has been instrumental in Bath revival under Steve Meehan, playing most often at inside centre, but taking the fly-half role with good effect when injury ruled out Springbok Butch James.

The Discovery of the Season highlights the best young players in the league, with a large number of players eligible for this award.

Danny Cipriani was also nominated for this award, giving the Wasps and England star a 'double-double' of nominations in both player and young player categories in the PRA and Guinness Premiership Awards.

Joining Cipriani were two Harlequins players in Danny Care and Chris Robshaw. Both have been central to Quins' strong league form, which saw them gain a Heineken Cup place for a second consecutive season, having missed out on a Guinness Premiership semi-final place in the dying minutes on Saturday.

Completing the nominations are Bath winger Matt Banahan and Sale Sharks' Ben Foden.

Banahan finished his first season of Guinness Premiership rugby as the league's second highest try scorer and helped his Bath team to third place in the league.

Foden has scored eight tries for Sale from the full-back berth, but will leave fifth place Sale for the returning Northampton Saints at the end of the season.

The nominations for the Director of Rugby of the Season are Steve Meehan, Dean Richards and Dean Ryan.

Ryan has again led his side to the top of the table, leading for all but one of the 22 rounds while continuing to mould and develop a team of talented young English players that qualified for a Heineken Cup quarter-final.

Meanwhile, Meehan has transformed Bath from a lower mid-table team into genuine title contenders and prospective winners of the European Challenge Cup.

Bath are arguably playing the most dynamic rugby in the country and have edged themselves back in to familiar territory at the summit of the English game.

For his part, Quins' Director of Rugby Richards has cemented Harlequins' place in the league and narrowly missed out on a semi-final place in the Guinness Premiership.

As with the other Dean, Richards has built the foundations of his team on a group of dynamic young Englishmen which bodes well for club and country.

Also announced were the nominations for the Try of the Season.

The nominations in full are:

Player of the Season:

Olly Barkley (Bath), Danny Cipriani (Wasps), Akapusi Qera (Gloucester), Paul Sackey (Wasps), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester).

Discovery of the Season:

Matthew Banahan (Bath), Danny Care (Harlequins), Danny Cipriani (Wasps), Ben Foden (Sale), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins).

Director of Rugby of the Season:

Steve Meehan (Bath), Dean Richards (Harlequins), Dean Ryan (Gloucester).

Try of the Season:

Tom Guest - Leeds v Harlequins, April 13, 2008

Kai Horstmann - Sale v Worcester, February 29, 2008

Johne Murphy - Leicester v Bath, September, 22 2007

James Simpson-Daniel - Gloucester v Bath, May 10, 2008

Fraser Waters - Wasps v Leeds, September 30, 2007

Community Player of the Season:

Duncan Bell (Bath), Andy Kyriacou (Saracens), Joe Shaw (Newcastle), Sam Tuitupou (Worcester), Dave Walder (Wasps).