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
Derrynane says...
Patrickh says...that Gilroys "kicking was a bit aimless". Gilroy kicked the ball once in the time he was on the pitch, this when Ireland had a penalty advantage. What impressed me most about him was his fielding under the high ball. It seems that Scotland targetted him without success.
Posted 13:46 25th February 2013
Patrickh says...
Lios team based on the weekends matches;
15 Halfpenny
14 Cuthbert
13 Tuilagi
12 Marshall
11 Gilroy
10 Biggar
9 Laidlaw
8 Wood
7 Robshaw
6 Brown
5 Hamilton
4 Gray
3 Jones
2 all were poor, let's say Hibbard for the craic
1 Marler did well I thought against one of the best tight heads
5 Welsh
2 Irish
4 English
4 Scots
Posted 13:20 25th February 2013
Patrickh says...
Hmm.. Not sure I would have had any Irish player in the team at all. Gilroy was good for the most part. His kicking was a bit aimless. Only Cuthbert really stood out on the wing this weekend and I suppose out of the rest Gilroy was about the best.
Huget played well on Saturday and deserves consideration.
Posted 13:01 25th February 2013
Centre12 says...
From the 6N's thus far, there are two things that should be a certainty for the Lions.
1-Robshaw should be and must be Captain and quite frankly nailed on starter to the Test 15 at 7 or 6, I really dont mind and think too much fuss is put on this, at the end of the day both 6 & 7 need to be able to scavenge, tackle, run, pass, ruck & maul, shouldn't matter what number you have on your back.
2- There will and deservedly should be more Scots on this tour than the previous 2-3 Tours.
Posted 12:50 25th February 2013