Six Nations Team of the Week: ‘Peerless’ Frenchman, ‘silky’ Scot and ‘a Lions certainty’ lead the way
France's Antoine Dupont, Ireland's Tadhg Beirne and Scotland's Blair Kinghorn.
Following victories for France, Scotland and Ireland over Wales, Italy and England in their respective Six Nations Tests, we select our Team of the Week.
As the opening round of the championship went with the formbook, both England and Italy had moments to celebrate in defeat making selection particularly hard. France’s Gregory Alldritt topped the stats log as he had a weekend to remember, whilst Scotland’s Huw Jones wasn’t far behind him as he grabbed a magnificent hat-trick as the Azzurri challenged his team hard.
After the thrilling round of Six Nations action, Planet Rugby’s James While brings you our Team of the Weekend.
Six Nations Team of the Week – Round One
15 Blair Kinghorn (Scotland): A wonderful running display from the silky full-back saw him make 159 metres in attack, delivering two lovely offloads as he was an integral part of a high-quality display from the Scots. Thomas Ramos might well find himself at fly-half next weekend but was typically assured in France’s thrashing of Wales.
14 Darcy Graham (Scotland): The 27-year-old was in industrious form for the Scots and it was his break that set up the Jones hat-trick in a high-octane performance from the Lions hopeful. Two tries courtesy of Antoine Dupont’s vision sees Theo Attissogbé as our runner-up as the Pau flyer did a good job of replacing the injured Damian Penaud.
13 Huw Jones (Scotland): An absolutely magnificent outing for the Lions 13 elect. His nose for the line and footwork to finish is really something else and his 80 minutes were pivotal for the Scots. His opposite number (although he played at inside centre wearing 13), Juan Ignacio Brex, shone in Italy’s brilliant fightback and needs commending for his performance and leadership once skipper Michele Lamaro went off.
12 Bundee Aki (Ireland): He had a relatively quiet first half but big players win big moments and it was Aki’s brilliant finish that turned the course of the match in Dublin. Tommason Menoncello needs a shout-out for another committed display for the Azzurri, whilst if we picked players on the first 40 minutes Henry Slade?might be there, but sadly his second 40 were as poor as England themselves.
11 James Lowe (Ireland): A tough call on the left wing with France’s Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe both in fine fettle. But in terms of winning impact, Lowe’s spike and aggression were key for Ireland’s resurgence and he takes the shirt.
10 Marcus Smith (England): It wasn’t a vintage weekend for tens, but the stats are overwhelmingly in favour of the Englishman, as he ran 88 metres and beat four defenders. Paolo Garbisi probably was the runner-up although the best pass to an Italian came from Finn Russell as he gave Brex an early birthday present! Jack Crowley really caught our eye as he upped the Irish performance off the bench. Romain Ntamack might have been our choice but for his brainfart as he saw red after a shocker of a tackle.
9 Antoine Dupont (France): Peerless. He played rugby on another level to anyone else we saw this weekend and is, rather predictably, our player of the round. In contrast to the 10 shirt, scrum-halves thrived this weekend with both Jamison Gibson-Park and Ben White enjoying powerful outings, and Nolann le Garrec adding real impact once Dupont had left the field to a standing ovation from all in the ground (and probably those watching on TV too!).
Solid-looking pack of forwards
8 Gregory Alldritt (France): A fantastic outing for the La Rochellian as he pummelled Wales into submission. It was simple and direct stuff, the work he’s famous for. In Ireland, Jack Conan was immense off the bench, really adding some straight line power, but it’s a mystery to all as to why Steve Borthwick removed Ben Earl who was having a thunderingly good match once again.
7 Jac Morgan (Wales): It might surprise some to see the Welsh skipper take the position given Rory Darge’s excellence for Scotland, but Morgan topped carries, tackles, metres made and dominant carries for the weekend. A remarkable showing in defeat. Paul Boudehent is another worth a mention as his power added real heft to the Welsh effort.
6 Tom Curry (England): “TC” may not quite have the gas he did two or three years ago but he was tireless and suffocating in England’s performance in Dublin, grabbing a consolation try at the end. Francois Cros did what Cros does for France, whilst Ryan Baird had a strong showing as he got a Test start in Dublin.
5 Emmanuel Meafou (France): It wasn’t the number of carries the big man made, it was the chaos he caused with his collisions. His 26 metres post contact were by far the highest of the weekend, although both Will Rowlands and Grant Gilchrist had impressive outings for Wales and Scotland.
4 Tadhg Beirne (Ireland): A wonderful galloping display from a Lions certainty as he shone both sides of the ball, grabbing turnovers, lineouts and getting on the scorecard. Maro Itoje had a quality outing in opposition, but irked the officials with his chat, whilst Dafydd Jenkins impressed in defeat for Wales.
3 Zander Fagerson (Scotland): Despite not having a good day in the tight, Fagerson made 70 metres with ball in hand, grabbing a turnover in a mobile display. Italy’s Simone Ferrari made 14 tackles, the most for a tighthead, in an impressive outing putting the Scots under pressure in the pack. Uini Atonio was a rock as usual for the French.
2 Dan Sheehan (Ireland): 30 minutes of brilliance from Sheehan would have pleased everyone involved for both Ireland and the Lions as the hooker put his injuries behind him, celebrating with a comeback try. Julien Marchand grabbed a couple at the fag end of the game v Wales, whilst Giacomo Nicotera tackled himself to a standstill, stopping 21 players in their tracks in an all-action 51 minutes for Italy.
1 Danilo Fischetti (Italy): Absolutely brilliant as he made 16 tackles and grabbed two turnovers as well as giving Zander Fagerson a really torrid time. The Azzurri props gave Scotland a really tough time up front and Fischetti is rewarded for a team effort. Andrew Porter was a world-class rock for Ireland, and France’s Jean-Baptiste Gros really showed his Test credentials strong display for Les Bleus.
