Abendanon named Europe's best
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ASM Clermont Auvergne fullback Nick Abendanon has been named as the European Player of the Year 2015 after an outstanding individual performance in the European Champions Cup Final at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The 28 year-old capped an excellent European campaign with a try-scoring performance in the Final and, despite his club's loss to RC Toulon, he topped the EPCR attack stats for the showpiece Final with 155 metres made from 17 carries.
The 2008 Challenge Cup winner started all of Clermont's nine Champions Cup matches at fullback and in his 693 minutes on the field made a massive contribution to his club's run to a second European Cup Final.
The Champions Cup tournament stats highlight the player's consistent world-class performances throughout the European campaign with Abendanon topping four attack categories racking up 112 carries, 929 metres made, 13 clean breaks and beating 34 defenders on the way to scoring four tries.
The former England international received a specially struck EPCR gold medal in recognition of the prestigious accolade, which was presented by his teammates in Clermont-Ferrand.
On being named European Player of the Year Nick Abendanon said: "It's obviously a huge honour to receive this accolade, especially with the great players who have received it in years past.
"I want to thank everyone involved at Clermont for the help, support and character shown throughout the year. "I realise that this is an individual award but it is, for me, a recognition of the players around me who have shown such resolve and endeavour during a tough European season.
"I would therefore like to accept it on behalf of the whole squad as a small consolation for Saturday's disappointment".
Abendanon is now included in a list of illustrious players who have won the highest individual accolade in northern hemisphere rugby.
Steffon Armitage, Man of the Match in the 2014 European decider, was last season's winner while Jonny Wilkinson, who captained Toulon to their first European title, was the 2013 European Player of the Year.
Previous winners were Rob Kearney (Leinster Rugby 2012), Sean O'Brien (Leinster Rugby 2011) and Ronan O'Gara (Munster Rugby) who was the inaugural recipient in 2010 as the best player over the first 15 years of the European tournaments.
The task of deciding on the leading player of the European season was undertaken by an expert panel which comprised: Stuart Barnes, Alan Quinlan, Emmanuel Massicard, Mick Cleary, Dimitri Yachvili.
The judging panel selected a longlist of 15 players based on performances during the pool stages of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup and that list was then reduced to five players following the quarterfinals and semifinals weekends.
European Player of the Year 2015 initial shortlist:
Nick Abendanon (ASM Clermont Auvergne)
Steffon Armitage (RC Toulon)
Jamie Heaslip (Leinster Rugby)
Fritz Lee (ASM Clermont Auvergne)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
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