Aviva Premiership
Bath trio nominated for RPA Young Player Award
ESPN Staff
May 5, 2015
George Ford scores a try
George Ford scores a try© Stu Forster/Getty Images

Bath trio George Ford, Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph are among five nominees for the RPA Young Player of the year Award 2015. The three exciting young backs are joined on the shortlist by Exeter Chiefs' playmaker Henry Slade and young Saracens forward Maro Itoje.

Joseph, Watson and Ford all impressed for England in the Six Nations after outstanding starts to the season for Bath, while Slade and Itoje have enjoyed breakout seasons for their clubs and are in contention for call-ups to Stuart Lancaster's wider training squad for the World Cup later this year.

Players must have been under the age of 23 on September 1, 2014 and the winner will be announced at a ceremony in London on May 13.

2014 winner Ford, who has scored 163 points in Bath's run to the play-offs, said: "Winning this award last year gave me an incredible amount of confidence heading into the 2014/15 season and to be nominated again is a fantastic feeling. I've been lucky this season to have played in a very determined Bath squad, where we've played a really solid style of rugby and one which suits my game perfectly."

Itoje, who captained Saracens to the LV= Cup and England U20's to an IRB Junior World Championship was delighted to be nominated for the award for the first time.

"I'm extremely honoured to be nominated for this award," he said, "an award which recognises the best young talent in one of the best domestic rugby leagues in the world. The Aviva Premiership is such a strong and exciting competition and to be nominated out of so many rising stars, will no doubt push me to want to achieve even more."

© ESPN Staff

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