The best of the best.

Five rugby stars will battle it out to see who takes home the 2017/18 Aviva Premiership Rugby Player for the Season award.

Three of the four semi-final teams are represented with Exeter Chiefs’ Don Armand, Danny Cipriani of Wasps and Newcastle Falcon Vereniki Goneva making it onto the shortlist.

And completing the quintet are Sale Sharks scrumhalf Faf De Klerk and Northampton Saints’ Jamie Gibson – two of only four players to feature in all 22 Rounds of Aviva Premiership Rugby this season.

The Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Season shortlist:

Don Armand (Exeter Chiefs)
Danny Cipriani (Wasps)
Faf De Klerk (Sale Sharks)
Jamie Gibson (Northampton Saints)
Vereniki Goneva (Newcastle Falcons)

The five talismen will now wait to see who takes the crown from last year’s winner Jimmy Gopperth of Wasps at the glittering Aviva Premiership Rugby Awards at the Royal Lancaster Hotel on Wednesday May 16.

The shortlist was compiled by the following panel – Alastair Eykyn (BT Sport), Nick Mullins (BT Sport), Sonja McLaughlan (BBC Radio), Sarah Mockford (Rugby World), Mick Cleary (Telegraph), Stephen Jones (The Times), Jonny Fordham (The Sun), Dave Rogers (Getty Images) and Chris Jones (BBC Radio), while Paul Morgan (Premiership Rugby’s Communications Director) chaired the panel.