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World Rankings get major Six Nations shake-up
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Ireland dominate our Six Nations team of the week but one England player sneaks in
By Josh Raisey
Ireland came alive in round three of the Guinness Six Nations, and, unsurprisingly, see plenty of faces in this team of the week after their record 42-21 victory over England at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.
This week’s team features some familiar faces and now has a common theme to it, chiefly the lack of England players. Unlike last week, one of Steve Borthwick’s beleaguered squadron has snuck into the XV.
But both winners and losers from the other two contests have found themselves in the team, with some standout showings regardless of the result. Here’s our team of the week:
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15 Ange Capuozzo
Making his first appearance of the Six Nations and marked it with a try, pouncing on a loose ball. This wasn’t perfect from the Italian maestro, but he adds some individual magic to the Azzurri’s backline, and he was keen to get his hands on the ball as much as possible, making 15 carries. A shoulder injury could, unfortunately, bring his campaign to a premature end.
14 Robert Baloucoune
Where do we begin with Baloucoune’s performance? One try and three line breaks in attack, but it was the Ulsterman’s defensive output that stood out. One try-saving tackle on Tommy Freeman, more turnovers than the entire England team and four dominant tackles. Scorched all over the pitch while the England players appeared to be running in treacle.
Six Nations
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
France
3
3
0
0
15
2
Scotland
3
2
1
0
11
3
Ireland
3
2
1
0
9
4
England
3
1
2
0
5
5
Italy
3
1
2
0
5
6
Wales
3
0
3
0
1
13 Émilien Gailleton
France’s 22-year-old centre has the pace of any winger (well, except Louis Bielle-Biarrey) and movement to match. He topped the contest against Italy for metres carried, line breaks and defenders beaten and capped his display with a try at the end.
12 Stuart McCloskey
Dominated England in every conceivable way. Hurtled into the England defence 15 times, beating five defenders and giving Ireland front-foot ball time and time again. His standout moment, however, was haring back to bundle Marcus Smith into touch following an interception and a 50-metre sprint.
11 Tommy O’Brien
Replaced James Lowe after 20 minutes and made his presence felt immediately, coming off his left wing to untie the English defence on the right flank. That was an all-too common theme for Borthwick watching on. His work in the air continued to make England’s previously fabled aerial prowess, shown in the autumn, seem like a vague and foggy memory.
10 Finn Russell
Scotland found themselves in a hole in Cardiff on Saturday, trailing 20-5 with 30 minutes remaining. It was time for their talisman to grab the match by the scruff of its neck, and that’s what he did. He darted over the line to reduce the lead before his moment of pure ingenuity a few minutes later with his quick restart to put Darcy Graham in for a try.
9 Jamison Gibson-Park
Completely ran the show for Ireland. Kicked to perfection to help retain possession, was forever threatening around the breakdown and every decision he made appeared to be the correct one. His quick tap to dart in for the opening try was a microcosm of the entire match as Ireland were several steps quicker in every aspect than a sluggish, ponderous England outfit.
1 Danilo Fischetti
Another week and another Italian prop in the team of the week. Just because his side could not capitalise on the penalties he won at the scrum, largely down to a faltering lineout, it doesn’t diminish his efforts there.
2 Dewi Lake
Led from the front for Wales and may have thought he had done enough to help his side to victory when he left the field with 25 minutes remaining. Seemed to bottle the anger and frustration pervading Welsh rugby currently and vented it with every carry he made, and there were many of them – 17 in total. The lineout functioned perfectly too as Wales took a huge stride in the right direction.
3 Joe Heyes
England have about as many players who have impressed so far this Championship as they do points in the table, but Heyes is one of those, and possibly the only England player who came out in credit following Ireland’s domination at Twickenham. Clearly on top in the scrum, topped England’s tackle count and covered a lot of ground in a 73-minute shift.
4 Dafydd Jenkins
A defensive titan as Wales fell short, racking up 24 tackles. Only one player has made more tackles than the Welshman this Championship, Lorenzo Cannone, and his work-rate will likely be the backbone of Wales’ eventual win.
5 Emmanuel Meafou
Making his first start of the Championship and crowned it with a try. Then again, the way he powered his 145kg frame over the line, it is a surprise he hadn’t crossed the whitewash in his previous 13 Tests. That was just one of 13 bruising carries into the Italian defence.
6 Tadhg Beirne
Shifted to the back-row this week and tormented England at the breakdown, as so many of his team-mates did. Won a penalty basically on his own line when he clamped onto the ball to repel England in the first half. Made the decision to field a back-row of Tom Curry, Ben Earl and Henry Pollock look very foolish as he towered over the trio.
7 Rory Darge
Player of the match in Scotland’s comeback win at the Principality Stadium and perhaps the main reason Wales were not able to extend their lead. A dog at the breakdown, as he was the week before in the Calcutta Cup, and chipped in with 14 tackles.
8 Caelan Doris
Hailed by Andy Farrell after the match as having “his best game in a good while,” the Ireland captain joined Beirne in manhandling his counterparts and making the English back-row look woefully unbalanced. Put in a match-leading 20 tackles and came up with some vital contributions with ball in hand, notably his clean break just seconds after the break to help the visitors extend their lead.
