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Opinion
The chalk dust has settled. The tackle bags are in the lorries. The cards are back in the pocket. Game plans discarded or enshrined.
France rules the North.
I devoted about one hundred eighteen hours to this year’s Six Nation, if my mad wee trip to Cardiff and Twickenham are added to the 18 or so hours of play on the fields of these six lands.
Going to two unmasked matches in 24 hours also allowed me to truly test my three vaccinations: 144,000 people singing, shouting, drinking, shuffling slowly en masse to trains and late night pubs with me, and yet an antigen exam at the airport remarkably coming up just as negative as the English attack.
But now it is time to focus on the individuals and pick a Team of the Six Nations tournament – 23 men and a coach.
A few caveats. We have a sport in which most available statistics are either shallow, deceptive or almost meaningless. Thus, you won’t see justification based on metres run or points scored.
Impact, influence, consistency but with momentous plays, not ever being dominated, and nailing core roles with a cherry on top. That is what these players showed in this competition.
Does team success affect selection? Yes. Of course.
All accomplishments in the Six Nations have an Italian exception, and when looking at the log, one must always figure whether Italy has been stampeded by a particular team, yet. So, Italy won’t have a player in this team. Even though they conquered an erratic Welsh team in their very home. One win in 36 attempts does not warrant a large contingent in the all-Six Nations team.
Also, continuity of selection permitting, France and Ireland should have the lion’s share of players. How many minutes is my minimum? I thought of it more as a requirement to only miss one match maximum, rather than a minute total, because props and scrumhalves split shifts and so does one lock, usually.
Finally, I heeded my colleague Geoff Parkes’ admonition against ‘recentism,’ which tends to dilute early rounds (or Oscar films released early in the cycle) by using a familiar method. I chose my team after the fourth round, and then made the fifth round ‘work hard’ to displace the incumbents. So, the most recent events are forced into proportion.
Without further ado, I’ll begin at the coalface.
At loosehead, we can go no further than Cyril Baille of France. He does everything a prop is supposed to do: lift trees, butcher pilferers, grapple a big bull, unmaul and maul, tackle stationary runners, and toss the caber. But Baille also puts centres through gaps, catches one-handed, barbecues chicken wings, and creates tries. His understudy is the Baby Rhino, an unpleasant player, but produced the scrummaging heist of the tournament in Round 4: Ellis Genge undressed Taidgh Furlong, pulled his white shorts down to his ankles at Twickenham, and seemed to do it with glee. Yes, some of it was illegal, but being good at being bad is a huge component of being a Test loosehead.
Our all-tournament hooker, or talon in French because of how a rake’s feet must scratch the earth and hunt the ball like a bird of prey, is Baille’s cohort, Julien Marchand. He is fearless in rucks, keeps a perfect height and shape in all facets, and is fit as a cyclist.
To back him up, we will go with the rough and ready Irishman Ronan Kelleher, the effect of whose absence at Twickers showed how vital he has become, even if Dan Sheehan was vindicated.
Tighthead: it still has to be that man Furlong, the England debacle notwithstanding. First, it seemed obvious even to the naked eye at the game that he was being walked around with a hit and chase. Second, he had his way with all other foes. Third, he carries like a loose forward, dances like a wing, and passes like a good 12. Ireland seemed to rise and fall on his form, and it was very good.
His “finisher” will be the massive ‘French’ prop, Monsieur Atonio. I do not think he is technically the finished product, and thus, may be found out in the Rugby World Cup if he cannot fix his hips. But in this tournament, he was more influential than most of his rivals, and not just at scrum time.
The second row is of African extraction: hard-charging 130 kg Paul Willemse and the defensive mastermind and menace Maro Itoje. This would be a good combination, I think, in a real team. The big South African, a star junior, realised he was stuck behind generational talent Eben Etzebeth in the Springbok setup, failed to make an 80-man camp for Heyneke Meyer pre-2015, left for a payday, then repatriated, and has improved by leaps and bounds in the French camp. Fitter, faster, and able to go the full 80 when needed. It may sound ludicrous, but he runs good lines.
Itoje brings the fire to the English set piece and is a defensive juggernaut. The two of them would be a handful for any opposition, and they play the second row very distinctly.
Reserve lock was going to be Will Rowlands of Wales. More athletic than he looks, a great mauler playing with a great maul stopper. The old Druid AWJ’s absence gave the lad a chance and he took it. After due consideration, I have kept Rowlands as my player 19 because Wales missed him greatly when they botched the Italian job by (both respectfully and) disrespectfully naming AWJ for their fifth Test without any logic besides legacy.
At blindside flank, it must be Taidgh Beirne. He can do it all and he did it all. Accompanying him will be ‘openside’ (France plays flanks like South Africa does: more of a mix and match) Francois Cros of France, who seemed to burrow into every little crevice in the game. If Josh Navidi could have played more, he might have had it, but this is a “consistency” team. The other Josh (van der Flier) also had a case.
No 8 has to be Gregory Alldritt. He is close to being a complete player, really. He was outplayed by Taulupe Faletau, but over the entire tourney, that was the only moment he looked incomplete. (He was reportedly ill, so we should factor that into our analysis),
Loose forward reserve: Anthony Jelonch. Able to play all three positions, highly mobile, good hands, and relentless in tackling.
Scrumhalf was the momentous position in this year’s Six Nations. Ben Youngs’ slow service finally saw him moved to the bench. Conor Murray was also the designated closer rather than starter. British and Irish Lion Ali Price seemed to take a step backward like his fellow Lion backs at Scotland. But Antoine Dupont kept going and seemed to add to his weapons. He’s our strong nine: he is very difficult to contain: only Wales found the right recipe and in his defence, he had a bad arm in that match. Backup: JGP, the Kiwi-born nippy starter for Ireland, who tormented Scotland and England, even if he sometimes overran his support.
Number 10: before round five, it was old Dan Biggar for me. The best boot in the comp, and a comp built around kicking. Skippered Wales through an injury crisis. Seemed to outplay the young guns Romain Ntamack and Marcus Smith when he faced them. Definitely outdueled Finn Russell, who disappointed in this tournament. Johnny Sexton was to be my reserve: Ireland still plays better with the wily veteran on the pitch. But the final round switched the order, because Biggar did not control his final match.
The midfield: this always brings dispute because we cannot pick mismatches. However, I will try to select the best true 12 and best true 13 in this tournament. But it ends up the same! At inside centre, Jonathan Danty used a limited amount of good ball to create brilliant tries. France plays territory and counter. Danty was able to unlock even the Welsh defence with a smart double move.
Gael Fickou just nips Garry Ringrose for the crucial outside role. Irrepressible on both sides of the ball. So smart with space. Clinical in the finish.
Wings: Until the last round, I had penciled in Duhan van der Merwe who remains untackleable, at left wing. Works hard to the end of each match. Doesn’t get forced into touch. Has worked on his defence and aerials. But James Lowe forced his way into the team just as he comes in from the touch-line and makes things happen. Big boot, a keeper’s hands, and good aggression.
On the right wing, I had the much maligned Alex Cuthbert, who returned with vengeance. He popped up all over the pitch, making heroic contributions. But he is axed after the final round and the previously unlucky little pocket dynamo from France, Gabin Villieres, who was a speedy menacing revelation, takes his place.
The Six Nations of 2022 featured so many good fullbacks. Melvyn Jaminet strikes the ball as sweetly as Nico Sanchez or Morne Steyn. It always looks like a rifled bullet on its sure way to the target. But as a positional 15, he has work to do, and he should probably add 5 kg of muscle. I will name Hugo Keenan as the most consistent and influential fullback. Liam Williams as backup because he is the perfect 23, so good when it counts.
TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT: Baille (France), Marchand (France), Furlong (Ireland), Willemse (France), Itoje (England), Beirne (Ireland), Cros (France), Alldritt (France), Dupont (France), Sexton (Ireland), Lowe (Ireland), Danty (France), Fickou (France),Villieres (France), Keenan (Ireland). Reserves: Genge (England), Kelleher (Ireland), Atonio (France), Rowlands (Wales), Jelonch (France), JGP (Ireland), Biggar (Wales), Williams (Wales).
Nine Frenchmen in the starting XV; two on the bench. Five Irish starting and two reserves. Three Welshmen. Two English. No Scot.
Coach of the tournament? Shaun Edwards, who added steel to the French team it had traditionally lacked.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.