LONG READ Paul Williams: My Six Nations’ unsung heroes

Below are my unsung heroes of the Six Nations, not the superstars. Not the pre-tournament headline makers. This list isn’t littered with players from the French squad, and you won’t see Antoine Dupont or Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s name mentioned at all. This column is for those who started the tournament from in the shadows, to then step into rugby’s glorious sunshine.

Kyle Steyn

Let’s be clear, Kyle Steyn is not an unsung hero at Glasgow – in Glasgow he has the full flowing cape, lycra suit and a girlfriend who can’t know his real identity. However, at test level he has always been in the shadow of Darcy Graham and Duhan van de Merwe. But no longer. Much was made of Steyn’s inclusion pre-tournament – over that of Graham and DVDM. The logic being that he was going to benefit the most from changes to the ‘box kicking’ escort laws – being tall and able to ride a tackle under the high ball, is now mandatory not an optional extra. And excel under the highball he did. But it would be insane to state that Steyn was only there to take high balls, he also led the entire competition for defenders beaten with 26 – six more than the next best, Tommaso Menoncello. Talk of who will become Scotland’s leading try scorer over the next few seasons has now been overtaken by chat of who can now up their game to match Steyn. Well played Kyle, you were a joy to watch.

Stuart McCloskey

It seems weird to think of Stuart McCloskey as having once been in the background of Irish test rugby– at that size, he’s always going to look like he’s in the foreground. But in the background, he has been – largely stuck behind Bundee Aki. But those days appear to be over. As we have seen during this year’s Six Nations’, McCloskey is a one-man pod system, in that as one person he is simultaneously a ‘forward’ carrying option, who can also ‘go out the back’, offload, and essentially clean his own rucks. For him to have been labelled a crash-ball merchant over his career is crazy – he’s more akin to Ireland’s Sonny Bill Williams.

Robert Baloucoune

Robert Baloucoune, as with Kyle Steyn, is another winger to whom test success has come late – but for very different reasons. Whilst Kyle Steyn needed a change in law variations to truly thrive, Baloucoune required something different – he needed his hamstrings to start playing ball, so that he could do the same. Baloucoune has been fantastic during this year’s Six Nations and delivered the type of size, speed and lateral movement that you tend to only see on nature documentaries. To see him use his wide step, and speed, to pop around the outside of defenders is a joy and his technique when finishing is NRL-esque. Well played, Robert.

Steve Tandy

There are World War two pilots who would have been too scared to accept the job of coaching Wales over the past ten weeks. Not only were you dealing with a squad who couldn’t win, but you were also dealing with a political situation in which there will be plenty of losers – regardless of the outcome. But Tandy has done the unthinkable and in under two months has turned a genuinely uncompetitive team into a genuinely competitive one. To witness Wales comfortably beat an Italian team (who also beat both Scotland and England) was as important a victory as there has ever been in the pro era in Wales. For Wales to once again have a dependable scrum, lineout, defensive completion (and a promising set of young backs in development) seemed like a dream just six weeks ago. Tandy has made it a reality.

Tomas Francis

It’s no coincidence that Wales’ upswing in form has come since Tomas Francis has rejoined the squad. Kieron Assiratti had been doing a very good job and Archie Griffin has promise. But Tomas Francis is different. He’s one of those tightheads that literally can’t be moved. If you’re ever planning one of those protests where you sit in the middle of a motorway, refusing to get out of the way, then Francis is your man. The benefits of selecting Francis aren’t just confined to his performance either. His presence has also benefited stacks of players around him. Solidity in the scrum has meant that Rhys Carre no longer has the massive burden of being a scrummaging focused loosehead and is able to deliver in other areas of the field – and boy did he deliver. Then there’s the selection of Ben Carter in the second row, instead of Adam Beard, which was largely possible thanks to having Francis as the scrum anchor. Scientists recently voted bees as the most important species in the world, and if that’s the case, they’re only narrowly beating out tightheads into second.

Gregor Townsend

Barring Gonzalo Quesada, Gregor Townsend has had arguably the most impressive Six Nations of all of the head coaches. When you consider where Townsend started the competition with where he finished it, he deserves a trophy all of his own. Pre-tournament, Townsend was taking the type of grilling from the press that is usually reserved for tax fiddling MPs. Yet Townsend once again delivered another Six Nations that not only kept his own supporters happy, but also charmed the rest of us. Scotland finished third, scoring the same amount of tries as Ireland and were in with a legit chance of winning the Triple Crown. Rugby success can be cruel in many regards. Supporters in particular think the grass is always greener – one second you’re sitting on lush green pastures, the next you’re pining for the third-generation hybrid turf that you can see in the distance. Townsend is doing a great job, congratulations Mr. T.