Following the conclusion of yet another riveting Six Nations campaign, we select a team of players that stood out amongst Europe’s elite.
After the Springboks’, Ireland’s scrum is arguably the next most devastating on the planet and it’s easy to see why given the players they have packing down in numbers one through three. In the (rather sizable) forms of Andre Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong, Andy Farrell has at his disposal some of the nation’s greatest-ever front-rankers and a fundamental dimension of the team’s success.
In the second row, Dafydd Jenkins was a standout in an otherwise forgettable campaign for Wales while the class of Tadhg Beirne, who earned his 50th cap in the win over Scotland on Saturday, is ever-present.
As difficult as it was to exclude the likes of Tommy Reffell (Wales) and Irishman Caelan Doris from the loose trio, Ben Earl’s England form was impossible to ignore and the 26-year-old Saracen gets the nod at eighthman. Alongside him are two Italians; inspirational skipper Michelle Lamaro and talisman Seb Negri. The former is well on his way to achieving “world-class” status while Zimbabwean-born Negri is irreplaceable for the Azzurri.
Who else but Jamieson Gibson-Park at No 9, while the pivot role belongs to Paolo Garbisi who continues to crackle and pop for the Italians. In the midfield, Bundee Aki translated his World Cup form to his Six Nations performances, and the Connacht veteran is joined by Juan Ignacio Brex, whose partnership with honourable mention Tommaso Menoncello looks set to become a mainstay for Gonzalo Quesada going forward.
Duhan van der Merwe’s brutal physicality in contact powered him to five tournament tries, including an unforgettable hat-trick against England, while Damien Penaud and Hugo Keenan are arguably the finest in their positions in the world.
- Andrew Porter (Ireland)
- Dan Sheehan (Ireland)
- Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)
- Dafydd Jenkins (Wales)
- Tadhg Berine (Ireland)
- Michelle Lamaro (Italy)
- Sebastian Negri (Italy)
- Ben Earl (England)
- Jamieson Gibson-Park (Ireland)
- Paolo Garbisi (Italy)
- Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland)
- Bundee Aki (Ireland)
- Juan Ignacio Brex (Italy)
- Damien Penaud (France))
- Hugo Keenan (Ireland)
