The three nominees for the Bank of Ireland Leinster Rugby Player of the Month for November have been revealed, with voting open now exclusively to Official Members.
Leinster secured maximum points across the four games the province played in the Guinness PRO14 last month.
Back-to-back bonus-point away wins were secured against Glasgow Warriors and Ospreys before Leo Cullen’s men returned to the RDS for two hard-fought wins over Edinburgh and Cardiff Blues.
Read on to see the shortlist. Official Members can vote now.
Ciarán Frawley
Ciarán Frawley has put in some impressive performances so far this season with four starts at inside centre and 10 points from the tee. The Skerries man might regularly catch the eye with ball in hand but his work in defence in the wins over Edinburgh and Cardiff in November really stood out.
He stepped up to make 11 tackles against Edinburgh – more than any other Leinster player on the day – and followed that up with another eight against Cardiff. Only his centre partner Liam Turner and Dan Leavy made as many that night.
View this post on Instagram
And if that doesn’t convince you, he probably deserves your vote for this sumptuous offload to send Luke McGrath over against Edinburgh alone.
Is Ciarán Frawley your Bank of Ireland Player of the Month? Official Members can vote here.
Scott Penny
Three starts, four tries, 257 minutes played – November was a very productive month for Scott Penny. Still only 21, the back-rower has been a standout in a competitive field. A try at the start of the month against Glasgow was punctuated by a massive defensive display that saw Penny make 23 tackles. He followed that up with another try against Ospreys and another 20 tackles to his name.
Against Edinburgh he made 10 carries for 41 metres, beating one defender and making a clean break. Then, against Cardiff, despite only playing 28 minutes, Penny still managed to squeeze in two more tries to maintain his rate of a try per game so far this season.
Is Scott Penny your Bank of Ireland Player of the Month? Official Members can vote here.
Rhys Ruddock
Another month, another string of big performances from Rhys. After being named your Bank of Ireland Player of the Month for October, Ruddock put in back-to-back Guinness Player of the Match performances in the away wins over Glasgow and Ospreys.
Only Penny and Ross Molony can rival Ruddock in the tackle stats for the season so far. But it’s been Ruddock’s powerful carries that have helped drive Leinster forward as well over the past number of weeks. From 83 carries, Ruddock has gained 221 metres (only Jimmy O’Brien and Cian Kelleher can claim higher totals) and beaten 11 defenders. He even has the most offloads in the squad over the opening seven games of the season; a bulldozing back-rower with the hands of a back.
Is Rhys Ruddock your Bank of Ireland Player of the Month? Official Members can vote here.
Join the club! Get exclusive benefits and content by becoming an Official Member.
