Tommaso Menoncello named 2024 Men’s Six Nations Player of the Championship, breaking a 13-year Italian drought

Robust Italian centre Tommaso Menoncello has been crowned the 2024 Men’s Six Nations Player of the Championship, becoming the first player from his country since Andrea Masi in 2011 to win the award.

The 21-year-old superstar claimed a whopping 33% of 146,000 fan votes and pipped the other nominees Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland), Bundee Aki (Ireland) and England’s Ben Earl to the prestigious award.

History

Menoncello is the second Italian to win the award and he described it as both a surprise and an honour to be voted in.

“This is a huge surprise and honour to be named the Guinness Men’s Six Nations Player of The Championship,” he said.

“It is truly special to represent my country, and to wear the Italy jersey alongside my friends and teammates. To then deliver performances that hopefully inspired the fans is what dreams are made of.

“Winning this award is testament to the achievements of the entire Italy team, and a sign of the exciting journey we are taking with Italian rugby.

𝙏𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙤 𝙈𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙤! 😤🇮🇹#GuinnessM6N #TommasoMenoncello pic.twitter.com/7HSMJWIVqx

— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) April 5, 2024

“I would like to thank all my teammates, coaches, and the passionate fans. I would also like to congratulate all the other nominees for this award. We play an incredible but tough sport, and awards that recognise the commitment and sacrifice of each player means a lot.”

As mentioned by the man himself the award is evidence of a growing confidence in Italian rugby, with the team managing two wins against Scotland and Wales in the 2024 Six Nations as they finished in fifth place.

Six Nations in numbers: Top performers, breaking winless streaks, tackle warriors and more

Players of the Championship

2004: Gordon D’Arcy – Ireland
2005: Martyn Williams – Wales
2006: Brian O’Driscoll – Ireland
2007: Brian O’Driscoll – Ireland
2008: Shane Williams – Wales
2009: Brian O’Driscoll – Ireland
2010: Tommy Bowe – Ireland
2011: Andrea Masi – Italy
2012: Dan Lydiate – Wales
2013: Leigh Halfpenny – Wales
2014: Mike Brown – England
2015: Paul O’Connell – Ireland
2016: Stuart Hogg – Scotland
2017: Stuart Hogg – Scotland
2018: Jacob Stockdale – Ireland
2019: Alun Wyn Jones – Wales
2020: Antoine Dupont – France
2021: Hamish Watson – Scotland
2022: Antoine Dupont – France
2023: Antoine Dupont – France
2024: Tommaso Menoncello – Italy

READ MORE: Rugby legends combine Six Nations stars to pick Perfect Player for 2024