As the dust settles on another Six Nations Championship, our rugby experts over @OptaJonny pick their Six Nations Team of the Tournament. Ireland and France unsurprisingly dominate, but there are a few surprise selections. Read on to find out who.
The Quick Hits:
- Unsurprisingly, players from Grand Slam champions Ireland and runners-up France dominate.
- Three Scottish players and one Italian feature.
- No players from England or Wales make the cut.
The Forwards
1. Danilo Fischetti (Italy)
Danilo Fischetti made 10 dominant tackles in the Six Nations this year, at least two more than any other player, while he made the most tackles (56) and beat the joint-most defenders of any prop (eight).
2. Julien Marchand (France)
Julien Marchand hit 67 defensive rucks in this year’s Six Nations, more than any other player. He also slowed down more opposition rucks than any other player (eight).
3. Zander Fagerson (Scotland)
Zander Fagerson was one of just 10 players to hit 100+ attacking rucks in the Championship (103) while no prop won more jackal turnovers than his two.
4. Thibaud Flament (France)
Thibaud Flament was the top-ranking second row for tries (three), metres gained (107), defenders beaten (six), line breaks (three) and tackles (81) in this year’s Six Nations.
5. James Ryan (Ireland)
James Ryan stole five lineouts in this year’s Six Nations, no other player made more than two lineout steals. He also hit the fifth most attacking rucks (122) and scored two tries.
6. Jamie Ritchie (Scotland)
Jamie Ritchie won four jackal turnovers this year – no player won more – while he also ranked in the top three players for attacking ruck effectiveness (94%, min. 30 rucks) and defensive ruck hits (54).
7. Charles Ollivon (France)
Charles Ollivon claimed 17 restart kicks, more than any other player. He didn’t drop a single one, while he was the only back row to score more than one try in the Championship (two).
8. Caelan Doris (Ireland)
Caelan Doris made the joint-most breakdown steals of any player in the Six Nations (four) and ranked in the top five forwards for carries (54), metres gained (173) and defensive ruck hits (55).
The Backs
9. Antoine Dupont (France)
Antoine Dupont assisted four tries – no player assisted more in the Six Nations – while he made twice as many line breaks (two) and beat twice as many defenders (16) as any other scrum half.
10. Finn Russell (Scotland)
Finn Russell made the joint most try assists in the Six Nations this year (four), while he also averaged the most carries (13) and offloads (1.8) per game (min. three apps).
11. James Lowe (Ireland)
James Lowe made 10 line breaks in the Six Nations this year, at least two more than any other player, while he was directly involved in five tries (three tries, two assists). Only Damian Penaud was involved in more (6).
12. Bundee Aki (Ireland)
Bundee Aki averaged the most carries (13.4) and won the most turnovers (0.9) per 80 minutes of any centre in the Six Nations this year (min. 200 minutes).
13. Gael Fickou (France)
Gael Fickou made the most tackles of any back and the third most overall (67) while he also beat the most defenders (18) of any centre in the Championship.
14. Mack Hansen (Ireland)
Mack Hansen was directly involved in more line breaks than any other player in the Six Nations this year (14), making seven himself and assisting a Championship-high seven too.
15. Thomas Ramos (France)
Thomas Ramos scored 84 points in this year’s Six Nations, only Jonny Wilkinson has scored more in an edition of the Championship (89 in 2001); he slotted 85% of his kicks at goal, despite having an xGK of 77%.
Enjoy this? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive exclusive weekly content. And follow us on Twitter too.