D'Arcy tops RBS poll - 橄欖球

恭喜他！
至於O'Driscoll，先去理個平頭先。

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/international/3580343.stm
Wednesday, 31 March, 2004, 07:00 GMT 08:00 UK
D'Arcy tops RBS poll


Ireland centre Gordon D'Arcy has capped a sensational season by being
voted RBS Six Nations Player of the Championship.

Following a five-star contribution to Ireland's first Triple Crown since
1985, D'Arcy was the runaway winner of the poll, run by the BBC Sport website.

He collected half of the 12,000 votes, four times as many as team-mate
Paul O'Connell, who finished second.

England wing Ben Cohen pipped Wales full-back Gareth Thomas for third,
with France flanker Serge Betsen fifth.

D'Arcy admitted he was surprised to receive the award, despite his current
form.

"It was definitely not expected - kind of a bolt from the blue," he told
BBC Sport.

"It's flattering to win this award by such a large margin. What can I say?
It's been a dream, this last couple of months.

"Since Christmas everything seems to have gone right, so to win something
like this is the icing on the cake.

"Having played for Ireland before and not really made any impact, I know
I have to work even harder now to stay where I am.

"I won't be drifting off into obscurity this time."

The centre insisted he would not be distracted by talk of him making next
year's Lions tour to New Zealand.

"The challenge for me now is to make sure the next time I play an
international I stay at the standard I've set.

"Six months is a huge amount of time in rugby.

"Six months ago I didn't make the World Cup squad, so I wouldn't be so naive
to look that far into the future about the Lions. But fingers crossed."


RBS/BBC PLAYER POLL

1 Gordon D'Arcy (Ireland) 50%
2 Paul O'Connell (Ireland) 13%
3 Ben Cohen (England) 9%
4 Gareth Thomas (Wales) 8%
5 Serge Betsen (France) 6%
Others: 14%


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