Laidlaw nominated for World Player of the Year Award

SCOTLAND captain Greig Laidlaw has been nominated for the World Rugby Player of the Year award which will be presented on Sunday.

The Gloucester scrum-half is one of six nominees chosen by a panel chaired by Australia’s 1999 World Cup-winning captain John Eales and which also contained former Scotland and Lions skipper Gavin Hastings.

Laidlaw, who was an impressive performer leading Scotland to the quarter-final stage of this year’s tournament when they were unfortunate to lose 35-34 to subsequent finalists Australia, is one of only two northern hemisphere players to make the shortlist along with Wales lock Alun Wyn Jones.

The 30-year-old from Jedburgh is only the second Scot to be nominated since the awards were introduced in 2001 following fellow scrum-half Mike Blair in 2008.

World Cup finalists New Zealand and Australia each have two players on the list - stand-off Dan Carter and wing Julian Savea for the All Blacks and back-row colleagues Michael Hooper and David Pocock for the Wallabies.

Carter, who will make his last appearance in an All Black jersey in today’s final at Twickenham, will become only the second man to win the award three times, following in the footsteps of his national captain Richie McCaw, if he is successful.

Former Edinburgh captain Laidlaw scored the crucial try which helped Scotland beat Samoa in their final Pool B match and qualify for the last eight. With 79 points to his name he is also one of the leading scorers in this year’s tournament.

The World Rugby Player of the Year 2015 Award in association with MasterCard will be presented at the World Rugby Awards at Battersea Evolution in London on Sunday.