Harlequins flyer Brown saw off Vereniki Goneva (Leicester), Samu Manoa (Northampton), Chris Pennell (Worcester), Jacques Burger (Saracens) and Dan Braid (Sale) to claim the crown.

Quins rugby director Conor O'Shea hailed him as a "a model of consistency, and also a match winner."

"It's a thoroughly deserved award," he said ahead of Harlequins' Premiership semi-final at Saracens on Saturday.

Game breaker

"He's a game breaker that changes the course of a match - no-one else has done it on a consistent level in the northern hemisphere this year, but him.

"He won the RBS 6 Nations Player of the Championships, Man of the Series in the Autumn Internationals and now quite rightly the Aviva Premiership Player of the Year."

Saracens boss McCall was named Guinness Director of Rugby of the Season for the second successive year after leading his side to a record 87 points in the regular campaign.

The former Ulster boss now also boasts the highest winning percentage in the history of the competition at 80 per cent, with just 14 defeats in 80 matches.