Tuesday 18 August 2015 12:16, UK
Ireland's Sophie Spence has been nominated for the 2015 women's player-of-the-year award, World Rugby have confirmed.
Second-row forward Spence was a key figure as the Irish won their second Women’s Six Nations title in three years, starting all five games of the championship.
The 28-year-old is joined on the short list by France captain Gaëlle Mignot and New Zealand’s Kendra Cocksedge.
World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset said: "On behalf of World Rugby, I wish to extend my congratulations to Gaëlle, Kendra and Sophie for securing their player-of-the-year nomination, and for their skill, power, discipline and consistency required to excel at the highest level.
"Women’s rugby is one of the fastest growing team sports in the world, and we’re focused on building on the incredible success of last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup in Paris which engaged fans like never before."
The panel selecting the shortlist is made up of former players Sue Day (England), Melodie Robinson (New Zealand) and Fiona Coghlan (Ireland) as well as Sunday Times rugby correspondent Stephen Jones and World Rugby Council member John Jeffrey.
The winner will be announced at the World Rugby Awards in London on November 1.
