Finally Nick Evans gets the recognition he deserves

Just thought i'd say a big congrats to Nev for bagging the RPA Player of the Season Award.

It's been a long time coming for him as he's been to my mind the best and most consistent fly half in the Prem for the last three seasons. Evans will hopefully be finishing his season on a high tomorrow as he has the chance to add another piece of silverware to the cabinet by directing Harlequins to their first Premiership title.

"I was very surprised and humbled to win this award, it's a great honour to be voted for by your fellow professionals," Evans said. "I was up against some fantastic players. Mike, Chris, Steve and George have all been outstanding this season and just to be nominated amongst that group is a huge honour in itself.

Also Owen Farrell won the Young Player of the Season award, completing an impressive awards double this season.

RPA Players' Player of the Year - Previous winners:
1999 - Neil Back (Leicester Tigers)
2000 - Pat Lam (Northampton Saints)
2001 - Mike Catt (Bath)
2002 - Jason Robinson (Sale Sharks)
2003 - Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons)
2004 - Bruce Reihana (Northampton Saints)
2005 - Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers)
2006 - Jason White (Sale Sharks)
2007 - Glen Jackson (Saracens)
2008 - Riki Flutey (London Wasps)
2009 - Seilala Mapusua (London Irish)
2010 - Schalk Brits (Saracens)
2011 - Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)



Full story:
http://www.espnscrum.com/premiership-2011-12/rugby/story/164483.html

A lot of foreigners on the list no?

A lot of good rugby players on that list yes

There are some good uns alright

Interesting list. Seems virtually every part of a team is represented: Front Row, second row (Corry played second row and back row), Back row, Out half, centres, wings and fullback. Only positions not showing up are prop and scrum half. I think it would be hard for a Prop to crash this list since so much they do is grunt and go. Scrum halves should never be voted on this list since they are too annoying.

Jeepers...7 of 14 herald from NZ rugby

Taylor,
That is also an interesting observation. Also 5 of the most recent 6 are Kiwis.

Good for Evans, good player. Sounds like the English are seeing the best of him.

It's hard case though, the kiwis that have won it were probably considered journeyman players in super rugby. Good players, sure, but not stand outs. I know the English league is strong, some say the best, but just not sure what that list means.

Do these players that leave play better for their English teams than their nz province, do they bring skills that are missing from the english league so stand out more, or is super rugby stronger so these players don't stand out as much, or probably something else?

Hard to say, mate.
One more point is, with the exception of Riki Flutey, all would have been playing with their clubs during the November Interantionals and the Six Nations. They might have been amongst the best players whilst their teams were weakened, and certainly consistent the rest of the season. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Certainly an interesting observation.

Going further, Martin Corry in 2005 was the last Englishman to win the award.

I think it could be because the higher profile foreign players brought in will jaw been carefully selected and imported for a specific role and gameplan with a lot of thought into the pros and cons. Because of this their English club plays to their strengths and probably had a weakness that they now fill in quite a specialised area. Allowing them to relatively shine. Also they play the entire Premiership Season which helps.

Though when I watched Nick Evans at the Blues he was a better than good flyhalf already

True, didn't appreciate the league continued during internationals, interesting. Need squad depth to win the league huh, or a couple of decent imports. The English players on that list were class, no doubt. Mapusua was a hard runner/tackler and stood out for otago. The others, just did their job IMO, and none from the crusaders either. Also, glad some of these exports do well and don't just rest on their laurels. I'm sure some do mind.

Would be very interested to hear the thoughts of DisneyChilly, AucklandLaurie etc as to how Nick Evans is regarded in New Zealand. Is it completely 'out of sight, out of mind, not interested at all'?

Most European rugby fans still didn't really understand why Evans wasn't called up as RWC cover after Cruden was injured rather than Whitebait Willie.

We didn't call up Evans, because we didn't need him. Evans had a crack in 2007, got injured when it mattered. Also, the way he turned his back on nz and then raved about how he was loving England and wasn't interested in coming home for the AB jersey would have rankled the ABs. As desperate as we were, there was no chance the ABs would have brought him in, too much pride.

Don't get me wrong, Evans is good, but I don't think he'd stand out amongst the first fives we currently have in super rugby, such as DC, cruden, barret.

Others may disagree, just my opinion.

Is it really surprising that there's so many Kiwi's though? They are undoubtedly the best rugby nation in the world and produce the most exciting players in the world.

EBOP wrote:We didn't call up Evans, because we didn't need him. Evans had a crack in 2007, got injured when it mattered. Also, the way he turned his back on nz and then raved about how he was loving England and wasn't interested in coming home for the AB jersey would have rankled the ABs. As desperate as we were, there was no chance the ABs would have brought him in, too much pride.

Don't get me wrong, Evans is good, but I don't think he'd stand out amongst the first fives we currently have in super rugby, such as DC, cruden, barret.

Others may disagree, just my opinion.

Thanks EBOP - so to sum that up:

We didn't call him up because you have to be playing in NZ to be an AB. End Off.
He is / was very good and would definitely be starting for the Blues if he were still here IMO. But getting old and there would be no future for him here if he came back.

Don't want to start a fight but the problem with so many Kiwis being on that list is that none of them were real stars in NZ (except may be Evans). I could understand if someone like McCaw or Jane went to Europe and made the list but for Reihana (who was a fine player) or Waldrom (who is average) to make the list is a little sad (for England).

Have to agree about Evans Nganboy. I think it is a concern for England that players (as opposed to the media) have only selected 3 products of the English rugby system.

On seeing that list I wish Pat Lam would go back to Northhampton.

Same discussion was held around Heymans. as late as 2011 posters were still putting up with the best in the world.

Fact is neither had played test rugby for 4 years. No matches against Oz, SA or any of the home nations. How anyone can be rated world class with no tests for 3 years is beyond me. And for the AB's they'd be expected to WIN. Not just be good enough to play.

For GH that made them simply ineligible.

Its a different mindset. HCup players can walk into their respective national sides as thats where they all play- the standard is known. We don't really know how the HCup stacks up against SXV/ 3N so whether its an arrogant stance is subject to opinion.

But at least it is a stance. Everyone knows the rules- Evans and Heymans certainly did. The AB's are lucky they can afford to make that stand with the quantity and quality of players and in comparison SA often call on their players.

F Steyne is a good example. In 2010 he was brought out of the wilderness and was terrible adapting to the faster game at 3N time. 2011 he was much better prepared, had slimmed down a bit because this time he was ready for the transition. And played brilliantly in 2011.

So SA have proved its workable in some cases, but dont expect the transition to be an easy ride, and thats what GH wasnt prepared to risk.

I would point out that for a lot of the players on that list it wasn't that they were the best player in the league, as that is nearly impossible to decide but it's based a lot on their professionalism and impact on their club as well.

As pointed out above when bringing a player around the world to play for your team you're going to make sure the gameplan suits them and that you get the best from them. Something that may not be focussed on as much with academy players.

Thats very true YS. It must make selection of the right person an interesting exercise. Besides considering the position and merits as a player, the off field skills of the player must be considered. Whether its a team player, promotional potential etc thats required must factor into it. Thats why a contract like Thorne is invaluable. Seen it and done it all. Sure Leinster would have won without him but what he brings to the mix is a wealth of experience as well as one less position to worry about. Its a short term fix compared to Evans who fully committed to NH rugby when his selection as an AB, albeit as back up to Carter, was assured.

So its horses for courses I suppose and likewise we should be thankful theres other competitions for our players as weve definitely a surplus of them.

Yappysnap, fair point about shaping game plans around certain imports. Makes sense that the good ones thrive on the pressure, deliver, and get the plaudits.

I always remember Evans as a good runner with the ball and could sneak through a gap. Not too dissimilar to DC. Others would provide a better assessment than that. But just wondering, does he still run a lot?

Not as much as he did at Auckland, it's mostly his game management that is his key strength, but he has had an excellent tactical, goal kicking game and getting our backs working with lots of pivoting! He will still give it a run if it's on, though Plan A is to get JTH going forward then spin it out from that. He's made some great running plays and his two dummy drop-goals in the 2009 win against Stade F were just beautiful

Thanks for explaining that CJ, sounds like he's done a good job and still has good variety in his game