Made it: Hamilton and Halfpenny
Now that the dust has settled across Europe, Planet Rugby thought it was only right to hand out some praise to the stars of Six Nations, Round Three.
Without further ado, here comes our offering - be sure to send in your own 15-1 team selections.
15 Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) - If Wales goal-kicking coach Neil Jenkins could adopt him, we are pretty sure he would. Jenkins watched on as the full-back slotted six from seven on Saturday in another impressive Six Nations showing. The last time the Lions won a series the full-back kicked...
14 Alex Cuthbert (Wales) - I could watch that line he hit over and over. Cuthbert was put through a seemingly non-existent hole in the Italian defence by Dan Biggar, showing great pace to go into the corner for a match-sealing try in Saturday's game. He made a cool 57 metres at Stadio Olimpico.
13 Manu Tuilagi (England) - While not in great form when coming off the bench in Round Two, Tuilagi was back up to his best in his first start of Six Nations 2013. One journalist Down Under has already sounded the warning to beware the Samoan trouble coming their way on this Lions tour.
12 Wesley Fofana (France) - Such an unlucky call on Luke Marshall, who was superb in his Irish debut against Scotland. The Ulsterman cut the line on several occasions early in the piece but unfortunately loses out to this French try-scorer. Not bad as a centre is he?
11 Craig Gilroy (Ireland) - Hunger aplenty with a try putting his side 0-8 up. Gilroy was busy throughout and was certainly undeserving of being on the losing outfit. One positive for him to take - if he can mask the defeat - was that he did his Lions prospects no harm at all.
10 Dan Biggar (Wales) - It was pleasing to see the Osprey answer his critics. Bossed it.
9 Greig Laidlaw (Scotland) - Morgan Parra may count himself unfortunate to miss out on this jersey as his return was overshadowed by a gritty Laidlaw showing. Four penalties from the busy scrum-half was enough to win the day for Scotland. How? We're still unsure.
8 Louis Picamoles (France) - While many would opt for Tom Wood for another admirable showing at eight, the running of Picamoles combined with his tireless efforts around the field sees him sneak this. Wood will no doubt slot back into the six jersey against Italy.
7 Chris Robshaw (England) - Saturday's man-of-the-match has done his British and Irish Lions captaincy chances no harm at all. While another skipper, Scotland's Kelly Brown was bloodied in victory - another touring must for us - Robshaw led England very well again.
6 Ryan Jones (Wales) - I don't think enough credit has been laid at the door of Jones. Since stepping in for Wales in Round Two as skipper, the Ospreys veteran has been a big factor in turning things around. A workhorse for a back-row that amassed a total of 41 tackles.
5 Jim Hamilton (Scotland) - Was relentless in his pressure on Rory Best at line-out time and rightly picked up the man-of-the-match award at Murrayfield. It was a real old school showing from Hamilton and one that got under the skin of their stunned opposition.
4 Richie Gray (Scotland) - Hamilton's P.I.C gets the nod here ahead of Joe Launchbury, which was a difficult call due to the England man's efforts at HQ. But Gray was part of a dogfight at Murrayfield as his combination with his 30-year-old lock partner proved critical.
3 Adam Jones (Wales) - Take your pick. Nicolas Mas and Geoff Cross were impressive for France and Scotland respectively while Dan Cole was good in patches for England. However, the Welsh pack were on top of the Italian scrum for most of the afternoon.
2 Richard Hibbard (Wales) - In contrast to the tighthead position, our hooking jersey was more who was left than who stood out. Apologies to Hibbard who was decent enough but honestly, there was little opposition as his main competitors failed to catch our eye.
1 Ryan Grant (Scotland) - Yes he was carded but it was so petty that we looked the other way. Grant formed a fine partnership with Cross and like the engine room behind him was a workhorse. His physicality was a plus for Scotland while fifteen tackles shows his fitness.
By Adam Kyriacou
@PlanetRugbyAK
Comments
Kiwirooster says...
@7redcards to be fair none of the English players actually stood out in that rather unimpressive victory. Ashton, Farrell, the front row, the second row, all pretty average to say the least. France should be kicking themselves for losing that one. Saint-Andre's coaching made the Poms to look good at the end. Yannick Forestier was badly missing. Michalak should have been a starter, he is no impact player. Trinh-Duc proposed nothing at all, he is just not a number 10. For all I know Saint-Andre looked more like a subject of his Majesty than any English player on the pitch on the day.
Tuilagi fully deserved to be in this pick of the week, he is the only one to make huge strides forward in that squad. (like he also did against the All Blacks) In my view, Picamoles also won the battle of the 8. So lose Tuilagi and England will not be punching in the same category no more.
France shot themselves in the foot while the referee Craig Joubert shot another round or two. If anything the French rugby union should launch a video enquiry on Joubert because it has been 3 or 4 games for them now that Joubert does not show the same consistency and speed in his decisions. Joubert has to be one of the only referee not to use his touch judges or take their comments into account. The guy often strikes me as a rogue.
Posted 01:32 28th February 2013
noord_transvaal says...
@7redcards
it's called team of the week. individual players who performed exceptionally well gets a nod. of course you want all of them to be English but that just shows how one eyed you are. good selection by PR this week even though this is the most boring six nations ever!
Posted 00:01 28th February 2013
7redcards says...
I love these team of the week picks, its a great opportunity to see how one eyed the writer is, so no surprise that the England team, the only unbeaten team in the tournament, have only two reps.
Just saying.
Posted 11:12 27th February 2013
PatrickH says...
Sorry, I see you've covered that. Haven't finished my coffee yet.. :)
Posted 06:52 27th February 2013
PatrickH says...
@ TV addict.
I think it could be 9. Add in a situation like Heaslip's. Born in Israel to Irish parents.
Posted 06:50 27th February 2013
KiwiRooster says...
Boring 6 Nations so far... It is odd really because two years past the RWC in New Zealand none of these teams look like anywhere near the finish article.
Ireland has some exciting youngsters coming in though; I wish France had not picked such an idiot as Saint-Andre who is going to screw up one of the most promising generation of players I have ever seen in the blue jersey. His reservoir of players is two to three times deeper and more talented than Laporte's was and yet he still find a way to bitch and moan.
Make yourself a favour France, get that loser out of the big job. For all the Aussies misery, Robbie Deans is a far better coach. France and Australia should swap.
Posted 05:46 27th February 2013
lawynd says...
@TVaddict - this could be a great quiz question...so far, Lawrence Dallaglio is in the lead (off the top of my head), being qualified to play for England, Ireland or Italy.
Posted 14:53 26th February 2013
TVaddict says...
@PatrickH
Actually that's quite a funny question. I suppose so technically. You raise another interesting question as well, how many countries is a player capable of being qualified for? Well you have your four grandparents, two parents, place of birth, and residency. So a player has the potential to be qualified for 8 countries if I've not missed anything.
Posted 14:15 26th February 2013
PatrickH says...
@ ronanmeagher, Thanks for the answer. But...
If your first cap is for the Lions but you're qualified to play for Ireland (granny) Wales (grandad) you're living in England three years playing for Leicester but you were born and raised in Australia where does the IRB eligibility regulations stipulate that your allegiance should lie?
Posted 13:28 26th February 2013
lawynd says...
@Saint_Andre91 - I'd pick them both - Brown at 15, Halfpenny at 14 or 11. Kearney's definitely right up there too and I hope all three are selected.
Posted 13:04 26th February 2013
Houston_11 says...
@Saint_Andre91
For what it's worth?? Not a whole judging by your analysis. Halfpenny is the in form full-back of the six nations (and Hogg, actually). That's not to discredit Goode/Brown who have both been very solid but not on the same level.
But to even consider Foden ahead of Halfpenny!? He can't even get in the squad and has had a poor season thus far.
Posted 12:58 26th February 2013
ronanmeagher says...
@lawynd - it seems it was an honest question from EddieC, relax with the xenophobic accusations.
@PatrickH - not quite the same but John Robbie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Robbie) played for the Lions against SA. Afterwards moved to SA and was picked by them but never actually played a test for SA. Obviously, this cannot happen now due to the IRB eligibility regulations.
Posted 12:33 26th February 2013
TVaddict says...
Ok, all this rubbish about can Robshaw go toe to toe with Pocock needs to stop. Do you guys watch rugby? They don't stop at the breakdown and wait patiently for the 7s to secure or steal the ball and then play on. It's a team game! It's about a teams breakdown ability.
Now the lions currently have no one player who can go 'toe to toe' with the likes of Pocock in terms of breakdown ability, but we don't need to. No matter who we play we'll need a team of players who compete well at the breakdown. For instance, if we play 6) Wood, 7) Robshaw, 8) O'Brien the we are playing three backrow players who usually play 7 who, as a unit, can more than match the Aussie breakdown work. I mean, just look at what the combination of Wood and Robshaw did to McCaw. Add to that some mobile second rows and Cole and it suddenly looks like an area we can win.
Posted 11:14 26th February 2013
jamesliveinhope says...
The dearth of Englishmen in any of the lineups so far speaks volumes for what Lancaster has done with the TEAM.
I have to say that I would pre-print any team sheet with Brad Barritt already on there.
If ever a player was a model of consistency, quietly getting on with it without any fanfares or trumpets. Not a flair player but England would be significantly weaker without him.
Posted 10:48 26th February 2013
Saint_Andre91 says...
It's not that I have any interest in Lions selection but why everybody's picking Halfpenny over the likes of Mike Brown, Goode or even Fodden (if fit) is a mystery to me. This is really a position where England has loads of quality and options.
For what it's worth would have Mike Brown starting for England (even if Goode hardly put a foot wrong) any time, and for the Lions as well.
Posted 10:38 26th February 2013
lawynd says...
@EddieC - Manu is no 'import', he grew up in England. The same as Faletau and Hartley in fact, and certainly more of an Englishman than Court is Irish, or Pretorius is Welsh, or Maitland is Scottish.
It's xenophobic attitudes like yours which I have no time for, and have no place in rugby. Go and watch football, there's plenty of insular racists on the terraces there.
Posted 10:16 26th February 2013
PatrickH says...
Hmm, I wonder could a player get a Lions cap first and then go on to play international for one of the SH teams?
Let's say Gats selects a bolter qualified to play for one of the home nations through residency but hasn't actually been capped yet. The that player returns to SA or wherever breaking into the national set up.
Posted 09:35 26th February 2013
EddieC says...
13 Manu Tuilagi (England) - While not in great form when coming off the bench in Round Two, Tuilagi was back up to his best in his first start of Six Nations 2013. One journalist Down Under has already sounded the warning to beware the Samoan trouble coming their way on this Lions tour. Is he English or Samoan? Why do we need imports on a B&I tour? Just asking!
Posted 07:54 26th February 2013
melkdave says...
Why is everyone picking Robshaw at 7 ,yes he can do the job very well ,but is he a match for Pocock or Hooper?? Robshaw will go and start at 6 his best position,and either Tipric or Armitage will play 7 specialist opensides,with SOB or Faletau at 8 .Shame B.Morgon got ijnured in the 1st game ,looked like he was going to show just how good he is ,and still my outside bet for 8 if SOB/Faletau gets injured or lose form.Please everyone stop thinking that Robshaw is just a 7 he isnt , his alot better at 6 ,and can do an adequate job at 8 if needed.As to sub for the backrow ,well T.Wood stands out by a country mile atm.,and can play all 3 BR positions.In fact only alteration to my Lions selection from theis weekends matches ,is BOD droping out and being replaced by J.Davies.and M.Ross being replaced by G.Cross
15)Halfpenny-Brown-Hogg 14)Cuthbert-Ashton 13)Tuangi-Davies 12)Barritt-Roberts 11)North-Vissier 10)Sexton-Farral-Flood 9)Youngs-Care-Laidlaw 8)SOB-Faletau 7)Tipric -Armitage 6)Robshaw-K.Brown 5Pairlings-Lawes 4 )Grey-Launchbury 3)Cole-Cross 2)Best-Hartley-Youngs 1)Healey-Marhlar-Vunipolo
A.Jones and G.Jenkins still dont make it ,despite dominating the italian scrum,their form until now just hasnt been good enough imo.,and A.Sheriadan continuies to impress in France if the squad goes to 36 players ,his my 6th prop .
Posted 01:30 26th February 2013
melkdave says...
Why is everyone picking Robshaw at 7 ,yes he can do the job very well ,but is he a match for Pocock or Hooper?? Robshaw will go and start at 6 his best position,and either Tipric or Armitage will play 7 specialist opensides,with SOB or Faletau at 8 .Shame B.Morgon got ijnured in the 1st game ,looked like he was going to show just how good he is ,and still my outside bet for 8 if SOB/Faletau gets injured or lose form.Please everyone stop thinking that Robshaw is just a 7 he isnt , his alot better at 6 ,and can do an adequate job at 8 if needed.As to subs for the backrow ,well T.Wood and K.Brown standout by a country mile atm.,and both can play all 3 BR positions.In fact only alteration to my Lions selection from the weekends matches ,is BOD droping out and being replaced by J.Davies.and M.Ross being replaced by G.Cross
15)Halfpenny-Brown-Hogg 14)Cuthbert-Ashton 13)Tuangi-Davies 12)Barritt-Roberts 11)North-Vissier 10)Sexton-Farral-Flood 9)Youngs-Care-Laidlaw 8)SOB-Faletau 7)Tipric -Armitage 6)Robshaw-K.Brown 5Pairlings-Lawes 4 )Grey-Launchbury 3)Cole-Cross 2)Best-Hartley-Youngs 1)Healey-Marhlar-Vunipolo
Posted 01:23 26th February 2013