Ruaraidh Britton: 2019 Guinness Six Nations Team of the Tournament

It’s hard to find a
performance that stands out in a French team that’s so inside out at the
moment, but Ramos is an good example of a diamond in the rough. The young full
back took to the international scene by deciphering Scotland’s defensive lines
in Paris and showing what he can do with any given space. He’ll do well if
Jacques Brunel gives him the game time he deserves instead of Yoann Huget, but
ultimately I believe he excelled in a position where many didn’t this campaign.

Shane Williams was told
he was too short to play rugby, but his speed and deceitful sidesteps took him
to heights we’d never have anticipated. I get that feeling from watching Darcy
Graham play, and the Edinburgh man has been electric against Wales and England.
If there was an award for breakthrough of the year, I’d give it to Darcy, but
in the meantime, I’m going to enjoy his highlight reel and look forward to
watching him in the years to come.

Exeter’s poster boy has
been excellent since coming back into the fold at England, and I have to say
his offload to Jonny May against Scotland was just the filthiest thing I’ve
ever seen. Slade has been a big answer to England’s issues in attack alongside
Manu Tuilagi and as much as Jonathan Davies has been his usual outstanding self
with Wales, I’m giving Slade the nod for his commitment to work his way back
into international rugby. He’ll be heading to Japan and that’s a fact.

For me, I can easily
see Parkes being named the player of the tournament, and I know that’s a big
claim but hasn’t he been good to watch. Wales have won the Grand Slam and
proven you don’t need bonus points to win it, so the try tally has been low,
but the attacking play orchestrated by Parkes and Davies has caused some
serious headaches for the other five teams in the Six Nations. Scarlets really
did bag themselves a champion in finding the latest kiwi convert.

This might not settle
well but I’m going to leave Jonny May out. I struggle to understand the hype
around a player who can score three because of his blistering pace one week,
and then be invisible the rest of the tournament. Worcester’s Adams has shown consistency
and dealt with aerial threats expertly, particularly against England, whereas
May has scored in opportunistic situations and shown that he’s a fast runner. I
fear these might be my famous last words but there, I said it. He’s a glorified
sprinter. 

Scotland underperformed
and underachieved and we all know that, but one man who didn’t fit the mould
was Russell, who’s performances against Italy, Ireland and England were
outstanding. He schooled Owen Farrell at controlling a game, tore Italy to
pieces, and showed us that when a team is dominating you can easily flip the
game on it’s head. I wanted to give Gareth Anscombe credit, but he didn’t have
the best of starts to the tournament, and Biggar did have to bring the ship
afloat in some situations.

This position was the
hardest for me to decide on, as there weren’t many names that stood out for me
at scrum-half. Antoine Dupont was impressive but absent in some games, and Ali
Price’s resurgence was only two and a bit games long. Ben Youngs and Conor
Murray weren’t as good as we know then can be, and the French and Italians
couldn’t make their mind up on who their star man was. So for me, the one
constant who got the job done, was Welshman Gareth Davies.

Scotland’s forwards
didn’t have the most memorable of tournaments, but rugby is built on numbers
and data and statistics and all that jazz. Break Dell’s stats down, and you’ll
see that man knows how to carry with the ball in hand. He made some serious
attacks beyond the gain line, and although it felt like Scotland were
struggling to break through at time, he was a secret assassin to an opposition
defence. I do need to credit Mako Vunipola here for his early showings, but his
injury cut him out the pecking order.

Much like the
scrum-half position, the hookers have been fairly quiet this term. Stuart
McInally has been outstanding, and Rory Best has grafted hard despite age being
against him, but for me, Owens kept the Welsh forwards going when the going got
tough. He was consistent at the line out despite that being one of Wales’
weaknesses, and he was just one of those tough old sods you could never write
off. Some of the old boys at Gatland’s yard really know how to get the job
done.

If I asked you to run
into a fridge freezer, or a moving bus, you wouldn’t because it would really
hurt right? Well Sinckler is quite simply monstrous and is the lifelike example
of what running into a bus feels like. Ask Sean Maitland after their run in
during the Calcutta Cup match. Apart from the questions around his discipline,
the Quins prop was in a league of his own, and is one of the mercenaries that
this game can look forward to seeing for years to come.

Now I know I’ve
discounted people through injury, but even though he missed the Scotland and
Ireland clashes, his performance against England was just too good to leave
out. Hill is like a fine wine with this Wales team, and with every game he’s
just getting better and better, but finishing that try after 34 hard worked
phases was champagne rugby to say the least. Adam Beard was an exceptional
replacement, but ultimately, Hill was the standout of the two. Except…

The man who will not be
beaten. The man who will not miss a tackle even if it kills him. The man who
many would love in their squad. Jones was the best captain of the championship
hands down, and his work rate at 33 years of age is astonishing. He refused to
leave the field after injuring his knee early on against Ireland, and fought
till the final whistle, and that to me spells commitment and courage. Just what
you want from the captain who’s leading you to a Grand Slam. Class.

Two man of the match awards
and multiple insults later, O’Mahony ends the tournament as the best blindside
flanker in the competition. Ireland haven’t been their usual self, a team that
was clinical and punishing, but their characters haven’t lost their ruthless
streak. O’Mahony is exhibit A for just that, a man who is just a nuisance at
the breakdown to anyone not wearing the green of Ireland. Munster’s finest does
need to work on his cuss words though, after all, rugby is a PG product.

How good was Sale’s
MVP? The bloodied warrior gave us an old school feel to England’s back row in
the sense that he literally couldn’t care if he was bleeding in pints and he
will fight to the end, and that hardened youngster is a rare breed in this
competition. It’s onwards and upwards for Curry, and I can see him going to
Japan as Eddie continues to find his best setup for the back row, but stick him
with Mark Wilson, Brad Shields or Billy Vunipola and he can be ruthless.

All the talk of how
much Wales would miss Taulupe Faletau, and all the gossip about how Moriarty
would struggle following his injury; it was all a load of rubbish really wasn’t
it. Moriarty was excellent from the word go, and the horror show in Paris was
eased massively by his performance at eight. Billy Vunipola has been good on
his return, and Louis Picamoles was his destructive self, but for me Moriarty
was much more impressive and showed us that eight is not a position they lack
star talent.