The nominees for the 2026 Men\u2019s Six Nations Player of the Championship have been revealed, with Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Tommaso Menoncello, Kyle Steyn and Stuart McCloskey included on the four-man shortlist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The four men received the highest number of votes during the selection for the Six Nations Team of the Championship which will once again go down to a public vote to decide the winner of the award. Voting can be conducted here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Of the group, Italy centre Menoncello scooped the gong in 2022, while Bielle-Biarrey also took home the prize last year. This is the first time that either Steyn or McCloskey have been nominated for the award, though.<\/p>\n Six Nations Player of the Championship nominees revealed<\/p>\n Winger Bielle-Biarrey took a starring role as Les Bleus secured their third title in five years, ending the Championship<\/a> as top try-scorer with nine efforts across five Tests \u2013 setting a Six Nations record in the process. Within that, he became the first player to score in each round in consecutive years, following his effort of eight in five from the 2025 edition.<\/p>\n Brian O\u2019Driscoll suggests Ireland\u2019s \u2018scar tissue\u2019 could be behind \u2018anti-Farrell sentiment\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Should he be crowned the winner, he would also follow France<\/a> teammate Antoine Dupont in winning the award in consecutive seasons, and become just the fourth player to do so since 2004, with Brian O\u2019Driscoll and Stuart Hogg winning the 2006 and 2007 and 2016 and 2017 awards respectively.<\/p>\n It would also make him a two-time winner, again joining an exclusive list alongside the aforementioned cohort to win it more than once. Dupont and O\u2019Driscoll are tied on three apiece.<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n But, Menoncello could also join that exclusive list if he were to come out on top, and the Azzurri back would also be a deserving winner. The centre, who finds himself on the shortlist for the third year in a row, played a pivotal role in Italy\u2019s fourth-placed finish, finishing joint-second for defenders beaten (20), fourth for metres gained (363) and fourth for linebreaks (11).<\/p>\n