Six Nations Team of the Tournament

Now that the dust has settled from this year's Six Nations, and coinciding with Leigh Halfpenny being named player of the tournament, I can now announce that I have chosen my highly anticipated Team of the Tournament. As usual, none of you will agree with me, if this is the case then shout at me and I might listen.

Fullback - Leigh Halfpenny
Would have been a farce if he hadn't won Player of the Tournament. Was the top points scorer with 74, solid under the high ball, good in defence, clinical in attack and will be the first player on the Lion's plane. Rob Kearney was also solid behind a weakened team, Stuart Hogg showed everyone his potential with great attacking threat and Andrea Masi was vital to the Italian team.


Wing - Alex Cuthbert
Broke English hearts in the last match of the tournament and was leading try scorer with four in five. An extremely clinical player and looked good in defence. Another player who will undoubtedly be with the Lions.




Centre - Brian O'Driscoll
He looked like a player of old and did extremely well with the inexperienced players in his team. In a tournament that didn't excite us with outside centres, he was the player that kept us on the edge of his seat whenever he got the ball. Ireland will seriously miss him if he has played his last game for his country.



Centre - Wesley Fofana
Why he played his first couple of games on the wing is a mystery. As soon as he got put into the centres, he was a new man. Constantly putting teams under pressure with ball in hand, he made yards every time he went forward. Two tries to his name in a team that finished bottom is impressive.



Wing - Sean Maitland
Grabbed a try and a couple of assists in his first tournament for his adopted country. Nothing got past him in defence and he was always making his opposite number think with his running lines and positioning. Giovanbattista Venditti deserves a mention for his rampaging runs whenever he got the ball for Italy.


Fly-half - Dan Biggar
Again, the tournament didn't bless us with fly-halves. Owen Farrell might be here if he played better in the final match and Luciano Orqeura could have been here if he played the whole tournament with the same flair and panache as he did against France and Ireland. Biggar had his critics before the tournament but he hardly put a foot wrong and got his backs flying.



Scrum-half - Greig Laidlaw
A toss-up between Laidlaw and Conor Murray but Laidlaw gets it due to his consistent goal-kicking. Kicked 22 points and put teams under pressure with his positional kicking and box kicks. Murray's kicking was also a joy to watch.




Number 8 - Sergio Parisse
He was brilliant to watch in the loose with strong running and audacious offloads. Always supporting his runners and got a try to his name. Mentions go to Louis Picamoles for being the only French forward to get his team on the front foot and to Johnnie Beattie for his defence and superb broken field running.



Flanker - Chris Robshaw
One of the tournament's top tacklers and ball turnovers, Robshaw led England from the front. Kelly Brown was the same type of player for Scotland.





Flanker - Alessandro Zanni
Showed that Italy don't just have to rely on Parisse. Zanni was everywhere and constantly proved to be a thorn in the opposition's side. Anytime one of his fellow back-row made a break, he was there to take the ball an extra few yards. Tackled anything that came his way.




Lock - Ian Evans
A lot of people were talking about Jim Hamilton but for me, even though he provided physicality, he gave away too many penalties. Evans was a constant presence in the lineout and always took the ball on the front foot.





Lock - Geoff Parling
I can't get enough of this guy. He was one of his country's top tacklers and he hit nearly every ruck. Carried the ball on countless occasions and even got on the scoresheet with a try against Scotland.





Prop - Adam Jones
Many thought Dan Cole would be the prop of the tournament but it was this guy, Jones. He was the cornerstone of Wales' scrum and unmovable in rucks and mauls.





Hooker - Leonardo Ghiraldini
Again, many have Richard Hibbard as their hooker of the tournament but Italy had the best scrum and lineout success rate. A lot of that is down to Ghiraldini, the experienced hooker gave his team a great attacking platform time and time again. Ross Ford's form improved a lot since the Autumn internationals.



Prop - Ryan Grant
He might have been given a yellow card, but Grant made more tackles than any other prop in the tournament, even more than Cian Healy. He was fairly strong in the scrums and carried a lot of ball.