Greig Laidlaw, who led Scotland to the brink of their first World Cup semi-final in 24 years, has been shortlisted for World Player of the Year.
The Gloucester scrum-half joins two of New Zealand's All Blacks, Dan Carter and Julian Savea, Australia duo Michael Hooper and David Pocock and towering Welsh forward Alun Wyn Jones on the six-man shortlist.
He is the first Scot since 2008, when Mike Blair became the country's inaugural nominee, to make the World Rugby list and the news comes just days after Laidlaw was named by coach Ian McGeechan in a notional 'Lions XV' based on performances in the 2015 World Cup.
Dan Carter, who will aim to inspire the All Blacks to World Cup glory tomorrow, is a nominee
That tournament concludes tomorrow when the All Blacks and Wallabies collide in a greatly-anticipated final at Twickenham, a game Laidlaw and his team-mates will watch knowing they were just two minutes away from knocking Australia out in the quarter-finals before being penalised by referee Craig Joubert and ultimately losing by a point, 35-34.
World Rugby subsequently admitted that Joubert had got the decision wrong and although it will come as scant consolation to Laidlaw to receive personal recognition from the governing body, it is another sign that Scottish rugby is on the road to recovery after a highly respectable World Cup showing.
Mark Bennett, the Scotland and Glasgow centre, was named as one of six nominees for World Rugby's Emerging Player of the Year.
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