Italy full-back Andrea Masi has been named as RBS Player of the Championship for the 2011 RBS 6 Nations, with Leicester Tigers and England fly-half Toby Flood among the top four in the voting.

Masi secured more than 30 per cent of the 17,000 votes cast by rugby supporters at www.rbs6nations.com to become the first Italian winner.

Italy scrum-half Fabio Semenzato came in second with just under 12 per cent of votes, closely followed by Sean O’Brien (Ireland) and Flood who both gained just over 10 per cent of the poll.

RBS Player of the Championship winners: 2010 Tommy Bowe, 2009 Brian O’Driscoll, 2008 Shane Williams, 2007 Brian O’Driscoll, 2006 Brian O’Driscoll

RBS 6 Nations Player of the Championship 2011 Shortlist: Andrea Masi (Italy), Fabio Semenzato (Italy), Toby Flood (England), Chris Ashton (England), Sean O’Brien (Ireland), Sam Warburton (Wales), Ronan O'Gara (Ireland), Maxime Medard (France), James Haskell (England), James Hook (Wales), Tom Palmer (England), Thierry Dusautoir (France)