Leigh Halfpenny has won the RBS Player of the Championship award for this year’s Six Nations. The Welsh fullback won a massive 40% of the public vote. Andrew Zanni was the runner up, trailing far behind Halfpenny on 11%, while Scotland’s Stuart Hogg took third spot with 8% of the total vote.

Halfpenny scored 74 points over the course of the five games, leading Wales to another Six Nations title. It was a fourth in just nine years for the Welsh, and Halfpenny helped wrap it up with a stunning 30-3 demolition of England at the Millennium Stadium last weekend.

“I can't thank the people who voted for me enough. It's a real honour and privilege to be voted RBS 6 Nations Player of the Championship, and I'm overwhelmed to be in amongst the players shortlisted. It's the icing on the cake of an exceptional year for Wales, and it is a privilege to be part of such an exceptional group of people. For my name to be added to the list of players who have won this award in the past is incredible and extremely humbling,” Halfpenny said in a statement.

Halfpenny looks like he could be Warren Gatland’s choice at fullback when the Lions go on tour. His claim to take kicking responsibilities will also have been strengthened by his own strong performance in Cardiff last Saturday contrasting sharply with the poor showing from England’s Owen Farrell when the pressure was dialled up in Cardiff.

Six Nations player of the championship and Lions certainty he may be, but Halfpenny isn’t totally inhuman in his excellence. Here’s a video of him admitting to the intense nerves he suffers from with every kick. If anything it serves only to make you admire his level of performance even more.

Image: Leigh Halfpenny kicks another against England
©INPHO/Dan Sheridan