The 81-cap former All Black played in all bar 17 minutes of Toulouse’s Pool 5 campaign, in which they won all six ties to finish top.

The Toulouse skipper, who can also play No.8, was Heineken Man of the Match in the TOP 14 side’s 32-17 Round 2 victory over Connacht Rugby at Stade Ernest Wallon.

The evergreen 36-year-old scored a try in that match – his first in European competition – and in the return against the Irish province in Round 5, which Toulouse won 21-7.

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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.

Toulouse flanker Jerome Kaino has been nominated for the 2020 EPCR European Player of the Year award after leading the French club into their second Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final in successive years.