This weekend saw England wrap up the 6 Nations title with a largely good performance against Wales, and we also saw a crushing victory for Ireland and a good performance from the Scots as they beat the French. Let's look at our team of the week, starting with the front row.
Front Row: Jack McGrath, Guilhem Guirado & Sean Cronin
Front Row: Jack McGrath, Guilhem Guirado & Sean Cronin
In our front row this week we have kind of cheated, including Sean Cronin at the 3, but it gives us our strongest front row performers of the week, and gives us 3 try corers. Jack McGrath had a solid game for Ireland, with great carrying, as evidenced by his try, he made more metres than CJ Stander from the same amount of carries, he really showed himself to be a threat with ball in hand and took advantage of a poor Italian side. Guirado had a similar impact, but against a much stronger side, a Scotland team that beat France for the first time in 10 years. Guirado also had a strong attacking game, but also shone with his impressive tackling and managed to force a turnover. He gave his French side every chance against Scotland, and led from the front.At the tight-head position, the options were very disappointing. It was impossible to include Dan Cole after he conceded 6 penalties and received a yellow card, whilst WP Nel missed 5 of his 8 tackles, and that is hardly form worthy of a spot in the team of the week. So we went for the Irish substitute, who had one hell of an impact on Saturday, notching up 67 metres from 8 carries, and like the other two in this line-up, he provided an incredible attacking threat from the front row.
Second Row: Maro Itoje & Donnacha Ryan
Maro Itoje secured himself God-like status in the eyes of English fans on Saturday, with an incredible performance against Wales. The man was an unstoppable force in the lineout, winning everything that came his way and stealing two of the Welsh lineouts, whilst also being his usual solid self in defence, not missing a tackle and securing a turnover, all whilst making the most tackles of any English player, 14. Then when it came to his ball carrying, we all saw what he did for Watson's try, bursting through the line before giving the ball to Mike Brown and allowing Watson to walk home the try. A mythical performance from Maro on just his second start for England, there has been a lot of hype about this man, and he is showing just why. The future England captain has burst on to the scene. Partnering him in our team of the week we went for Donnacha Ryan, who was pushed hard by Jonny Gray, but Ryan played a similar role for Ireland to Itoje, making the most tackles in their side, carrying well, and turning the ball over for his team, giving them even more opportunities to attack the Italian side. He wasn't as influential for his side, but he put in an under-rated shift in that game.
Back Row: Chris Robshaw, John Hardie & Josh Strauss
Eddie Jones has made the bold claim that Chris Robshaw has been his best player so far in the 6 Nations. I wouldn't go that far, but the former captain has impressed this tournament, and once again makes our team of the week, doing all the underrated Richard Hill-esque work that needs to be done. Robshaw pops up all over the pitch, working harder than anyone out there. Another man that left nothing on the field is John Hardie, who offered nothing in attack, made his name in defence, making 4 turnovers and crunching everyone is way, making the most amount of tackles for Scotland against France. The man is as hard as nails and he hits harder than a freight train. We had expected to include one of either Billy Vunipola or Toby Faletau in the side this week, but instead opted for Strauss, who had a great game and was brought in especially to combat the French this week. Yes, Billy was solid in defence and made more metres than Faletau, missing fewer tackles and making twice as many as his cousin, so he won the battle within the war, but there was a different war this weekend which Strauss came out on top of. He carried very well and was influential in bringing Scotland over the line against France with his work around the field. For his impact on the game, Strauss gets the nod over Billy. He even held off competition from double try-scoring Jamie Heaslip, who played well, but his performance against the Italians didn't really stand out, unlike Strauss's against France.
Half Backs: Ben Youngs & Jonny Sexton
At scrum half we've gone for the English 9 who had an excellent game on Saturday, apart from one bad pass to George Ford which the fly-half stupidly decided to kick, but Youngs kept up a good tempo and really shone out there against one of the best half-back pairings in world rugby. He was sharp in attack and kicked very well. He controlled the game and helped England dominate until he went off after 63 minutes. A very good game from a player that needs to consistently perform given the competition for his shirt. At 10 we have Ireland's Jonny Sexton, he played well and helped to annihilate the Italians. None of the other 10s played to their potential really, Peter Horne came off the bench very early on and put in a good performance considering the circumstances, but Sexton was comfortable the best fly half of the weekend.
Centres: Robbie Henshaw & Duncan Taylor
Combining for 164 metres, Robbie Henshaw and Duncan Taylor were fantastic for their countries at the weekend, escaping defenders and looking threatening every time they had the ball in their hands. Neither missed a tackle and Taylor kicked well from hand too. They were both ruthless in attack and helped guide their teams to two wins with style. These two have bright futures ahead of them, and there is plenty more to come. Seeing the two of them clash next week will be a great spectacle.
Back 3: Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson & Stuart Hogg
Rounding off this side we have 3 players that really impressed, and if it wasn't for a fantastic offensive performance from Stuart Hogg we would have seen Mike Brown round off an all-English back three. The England wingers combined for almost 150 metres against a previously undefeated Wales, helped by Alex Cuthbert being in the starting XV, but they did very well between them and looked consistently threatening whilst also solid in defence, although Nowell did occasionally look as if he lacked for pace. What he lacked in pace he made up for though defensively through 4 turnovers for England, although he missed as many tackles. Watson also stole the ball twice. Defensively Stuart Hogg has a lot of work to do to catch up to the likes of the England back 3, but in attack the Scot was electric as usual, and he came up with a gorgeous assist for Visser's try in the corner. He didn't actually make many metres on Sunday, just 10, but instead of blitzing through the defence he looked to create space for his team mates, and he showed a real maturity even at the young age of 23. He's not yet earned himself a Lion's spot with Brown looking like the leading contender, but if he can work on his defence then he will get there with performances like we saw at the weekend.
So, what do you make of it? 5 Irishmen, 5 Englishmen, 4 Scots and a solitary Frenchman. Who have we unforgivably left off the list? Should Ritchie Gray have claimed a spot. Maybe George North? Let us know on twitter or in the comments below.
Second Row: Maro Itoje & Donnacha Ryan
Maro Itoje secured himself God-like status in the eyes of English fans on Saturday, with an incredible performance against Wales. The man was an unstoppable force in the lineout, winning everything that came his way and stealing two of the Welsh lineouts, whilst also being his usual solid self in defence, not missing a tackle and securing a turnover, all whilst making the most tackles of any English player, 14. Then when it came to his ball carrying, we all saw what he did for Watson's try, bursting through the line before giving the ball to Mike Brown and allowing Watson to walk home the try. A mythical performance from Maro on just his second start for England, there has been a lot of hype about this man, and he is showing just why. The future England captain has burst on to the scene. Partnering him in our team of the week we went for Donnacha Ryan, who was pushed hard by Jonny Gray, but Ryan played a similar role for Ireland to Itoje, making the most tackles in their side, carrying well, and turning the ball over for his team, giving them even more opportunities to attack the Italian side. He wasn't as influential for his side, but he put in an under-rated shift in that game.
Back Row: Chris Robshaw, John Hardie & Josh Strauss
Eddie Jones has made the bold claim that Chris Robshaw has been his best player so far in the 6 Nations. I wouldn't go that far, but the former captain has impressed this tournament, and once again makes our team of the week, doing all the underrated Richard Hill-esque work that needs to be done. Robshaw pops up all over the pitch, working harder than anyone out there. Another man that left nothing on the field is John Hardie, who offered nothing in attack, made his name in defence, making 4 turnovers and crunching everyone is way, making the most amount of tackles for Scotland against France. The man is as hard as nails and he hits harder than a freight train. We had expected to include one of either Billy Vunipola or Toby Faletau in the side this week, but instead opted for Strauss, who had a great game and was brought in especially to combat the French this week. Yes, Billy was solid in defence and made more metres than Faletau, missing fewer tackles and making twice as many as his cousin, so he won the battle within the war, but there was a different war this weekend which Strauss came out on top of. He carried very well and was influential in bringing Scotland over the line against France with his work around the field. For his impact on the game, Strauss gets the nod over Billy. He even held off competition from double try-scoring Jamie Heaslip, who played well, but his performance against the Italians didn't really stand out, unlike Strauss's against France.
Half Backs: Ben Youngs & Jonny Sexton
At scrum half we've gone for the English 9 who had an excellent game on Saturday, apart from one bad pass to George Ford which the fly-half stupidly decided to kick, but Youngs kept up a good tempo and really shone out there against one of the best half-back pairings in world rugby. He was sharp in attack and kicked very well. He controlled the game and helped England dominate until he went off after 63 minutes. A very good game from a player that needs to consistently perform given the competition for his shirt. At 10 we have Ireland's Jonny Sexton, he played well and helped to annihilate the Italians. None of the other 10s played to their potential really, Peter Horne came off the bench very early on and put in a good performance considering the circumstances, but Sexton was comfortable the best fly half of the weekend.
Centres: Robbie Henshaw & Duncan Taylor
Combining for 164 metres, Robbie Henshaw and Duncan Taylor were fantastic for their countries at the weekend, escaping defenders and looking threatening every time they had the ball in their hands. Neither missed a tackle and Taylor kicked well from hand too. They were both ruthless in attack and helped guide their teams to two wins with style. These two have bright futures ahead of them, and there is plenty more to come. Seeing the two of them clash next week will be a great spectacle.Back 3: Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson & Stuart Hogg
Rounding off this side we have 3 players that really impressed, and if it wasn't for a fantastic offensive performance from Stuart Hogg we would have seen Mike Brown round off an all-English back three. The England wingers combined for almost 150 metres against a previously undefeated Wales, helped by Alex Cuthbert being in the starting XV, but they did very well between them and looked consistently threatening whilst also solid in defence, although Nowell did occasionally look as if he lacked for pace. What he lacked in pace he made up for though defensively through 4 turnovers for England, although he missed as many tackles. Watson also stole the ball twice. Defensively Stuart Hogg has a lot of work to do to catch up to the likes of the England back 3, but in attack the Scot was electric as usual, and he came up with a gorgeous assist for Visser's try in the corner. He didn't actually make many metres on Sunday, just 10, but instead of blitzing through the defence he looked to create space for his team mates, and he showed a real maturity even at the young age of 23. He's not yet earned himself a Lion's spot with Brown looking like the leading contender, but if he can work on his defence then he will get there with performances like we saw at the weekend.
So, what do you make of it? 5 Irishmen, 5 Englishmen, 4 Scots and a solitary Frenchman. Who have we unforgivably left off the list? Should Ritchie Gray have claimed a spot. Maybe George North? Let us know on twitter or in the comments below.
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