The 24-year-old has already scored two hat-tricks this season – against Benetton Rugby in Round 1 and against Northampton Saints in Round 4 – to share top spot in the competition’s try chart with six.

The Irish international also features in the top 10 for breaks and defenders beaten in this term’s Heineken Champions Cup, sharing eighth place on 10 for the former category and ninth on 23 in the latter in six appearances.

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The winner of one of the most prized individual accolades in the world game will receive a specially-struck gold medal as well as the Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy.

Voting for the award is now open HERE and fans will be in the running to win two VIP tickets to the Heineken Champions Cup final in Marseille next May with one night’s accommodation courtesy of EPCR, and a signed jersey of one of the Heineken Champions Cup finalist clubs.

The list will be reduced to five players in early May following the Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup semi-finals by a combination of the public vote and the verdict of the judges, and players who have not been included in the initial list of 15, but who make a significant impact in a quarter-final or semi-final match, may be considered for the shortlist.

The voting will then re-open and the winner of the 2020 award will be announced following the Heineken Champions Cup final at the Stade Vélodrome, Marseille on Saturday, 23 May.

Leinster Rugby centre Garry Ringrose is the 11th nominee for this season’s EPCR European Player of the Year, having helped the Irish province clinch a spot in the last eight of the Heineken Champions Cup with two games to spare.