Less than a year after walking away with the three top prizes, England have failed to receive a single nomination in any of the major categories for the annual International Rugby Board awards.
Last November, Martin Johnson took to the podium to accept the Team of the Year award on behalf of England, with Jonny Wilkinson claiming the Player of the Year prize and Sir Clive Woodward named Coach of the Year.
Since then, however, Woodward has stood down, Johnson has retired from the international scene and Wilkinson (installed as team captain on Monday) has been recovering from shoulder surgery as England embark on a rebuilding process.
England's only nominations this year come in the Sevens, where captain Simon Amor and Ben Gollings have been short-listed for Sevens Player of the Year.
Ireland centre Gordon D'Arcy is the only player from any of the home nations to be nominated for the IRB's Player of the Year award. The 24-year-old from Leinster proved an instrumental figure as Ireland landed their first Triple Crown since 1985 and was voted Outstanding Player of the RBS 6 Nations.
D'Arcy is joined in the prestigious five-man list, announced by the IRB today, by South Africans Schalk Burger and Marius Joubert, Australian centre Matt Giteau and French blindside flanker Serge Betsen.
Jake White, who led South Africa to the Tri-Nations title in his first season in charge, and French coach Bernard Laporte of Six Nations Grand Slam winners France are both short-listed for Coach of the Year.
They are joined by New Zealand Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens and Tomaz Morais, who guided Portugal to victory in the European Nations Cup on a shoestring budget.
South Africa, France and Portugal have all be nominated for the Team of the Year prize, which will be awarded at a gala dinner on November 28 at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel by former England captain Johnson.
Nominees in full:
IRB Player of the Year
Serge Betsen (FRA) Schalk Burger (SA) Gordon D'Arcy (IRE) Matt Giteau (AUS) Marius Joubert (SA)
IRB Team of the Year, in association with Sodexho
France Portugal South Africa
IRB Coach of the Year
Bernard Laporte (FRA) Tomas Morais (POR) Gordon Tietjens (NZ Sevens) Jake White (SA)
IRB Under 19 Player of the Year
Fabien Cibray (FRA) Jeremy Thrush (NZ) Mikaele Tuu'u (NZ)
IRB Under 21 Player of the Year, in association with Waterford
Jamie Heaslip(IRE) Jerome Kaino (NZ) Luke McAlister (NZ)
IRB Sevens Team of the Year
Winner: New Zealand
IRB Sevens Player of the Year
Simon Amor (ENG) Ben Gollings (ENG) Lucio Lopez Fleming (ARG)
