Immense: Parisse and Twelvetrees
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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 One.
Without further ado, here comes our offering - be sure to send in your own 15-1 team selections.
Team of Round 1
15 Stuart Hogg (Scotland) - The top performer wearing blue at Twickenham. Hogg cut loose early on with a fantastic break that saw him travel 50 metres, which led to Sean Maitland going over for a try on debut. Hogg also got a score late and becomes latest name with 'Lions bolter' attached.
14 Simon Zebo (Ireland) - Both Chris Ashton and Alex Cuthbert performed admirably while Italy's Giovambattista Venditti was solid. But with a metre-making Englishman selected on our other touchline, we had to make room for this Irish youngster who continues to mature. He took his try well and was a decent outlet in Cardiff.
13 Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland) - That Zebo try was down to this returning veteran's fine offload after drawing two Welsh tacklers. BOD, in what is set to be his last Six Nations, rolled back the years on Saturday in a superb performance that has already whet the appetite ahead of next weekend's game against England.
12 Billy Twelvetrees (England) - Note to self: Never doubt Stuart Lancaster. Have England found the missing midfield gem they were looking for? It seems so after Saturday's debut showing from Twelvetrees. Duck to water and all that, he was outstanding in all facets.
11 Mike Brown (England) - The Harlequin was the top metre maker (133) in the opening round of Six Nations 2013 and continues to prove that he deserves his place in the Test XV, even out of position. One kicking error led to a Scotland score but other than that, superb.
10 Luciano Orquera (Italy) - A watching Diego Dominguez must have been delighted to see the Azzurri seemingly discover a long-term fly-half option to move forward with. Orquera was sublime on Sunday and led Italy's backline with a calmness and clear head that they have long been lacking. We feel that mentions should also go to his scrum-half Tobias Botes, centres Tommaso Benvenuti and Alberto Sgarbi and of course the man wearing 8.
9 Ben Youngs (England) - There were a few grumbles when Lancaster opted for Youngs over the in-form Danny Care but once again the coach's decision proved a successful one. Youngs took the right calls all day and played a heads-up style when England were going forward. Life may be a good deal tougher in Dublin as the Irish pack is a much sterner test.
8 Sergio Parisse (Italy) - Italy's talisman was not alone in excellent Azzurri performances, but led from the front as always. His try opened matters and his workrate was exceptional.
7 Sean O'Brien (Ireland) - The Leinster flank is making his mark on the Lions pecking order - any man who makes an astonishing 23 tackles in a game deserves to wear the red jersey.
6 Alessandro Zanni (Italy) - One of Italy's most productive runners, Zanni was everywhere against the French - carrying productively and regularly evading defenders on Sunday.
5 Joe Launchbury (England) - The young Wasp carried on from where he left off against Scotland after an outstanding November. A dynamic runner and effective line-out option.
4 Andrew Coombs (Wales) - Wales were atrocious in the first half, but Coombs epitomised their second-half comeback. His work ethic was summed up by an impressive 17 carries.
3 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy) - A crucial try for Leicester's finest swung the momentum back the way of Italy with the clock ticking away in the second half. Nine carries and no missed tackles reflect his performance statistically, but the emotion on his face said more.
2 Rory Best (Ireland) - Whilst his line-out work was not always accurate, the Ulster hooker seems set for the British & Irish Lions starting jersey on the back of another strong Test performance. Plenty of carries and a crucial charge-down proved his class once again.
1 Cian Healy (Ireland) - 15 tackles and a smartly taken try from close range land Healy a spot in the side, continuing his impressive Leinster form on the international stage. Dan Cole awaits next week in Dublin in what should be a titanic battle at the Aviva Stadium.
By Adam Kyriacou and Ben Coles
@PlanetRugbyAK and @bencoles_
Comments
Norm says...
clearly drunken typing at play in last mail. and this one too, have corrected many times
Posted 23:35 06th February 2013
Norm says...
great post heart of oak
weekend ahead is a mystey to me. And you know what that is why I love the 6N. Last weekend notwithstanding, form and technical abilit and depther of talent mean that even in rugby nowadays you can predict the outcome to a degree,
6N. Favourite get thrashed by Italy! How brilliant is that? Seriously?
I can see the benefits of bonus points if they wake up test games in 6N but then againwhen was the last 6N that was short on drama? whatever teh style of rugby the drama is always top. Tribalism rocks!
Posted 23:33 06th February 2013
admack says...
Lucasrg: bear in mind that Goode was absolutley minced by Hogg. More than likely why hogg made it and Goode didn't
Posted 13:28 06th February 2013
masar says...
parisse is just marketing
Posted 00:06 06th February 2013
heart_of_oak says...
Oh God, not more of the nationality drivel again. For Christ's sake change the record.
Posted 23:09 05th February 2013
heart_of_oak says...
Anyone who thinks we will beat Ireland easily is living in cuckoo land. They, Ireland, are a great side and played a clever tacticaly game against Wales. They had obviously done alot of planning before that game and worked out strategies for negating the Welsh back line. They are sure to do the same against us.
I hope Lancaster takes them very very seriously. This is going to be a tough game. In my view Ireland have strong players in almost all positions. The back 3 are great, in the centres you've got BoD who is playing magic stuff at the moment. At FH Sexton is performing extremely well. Heaslip is being mooted by some as a Lions captain. O'Brien is a great player and the front row were a class act against the Welsh, in Cardiff.
Now then, these guys are playing us in their own back yard where their support will be as good as having an extra man.
So let's just be a bit more realistic and not come out with stuff like 'Ireland dont stand a hope in hell'. This match will be a great opportunity to see if England can perform well away from home and in particular to see Farrell under less favourable conditions. I'm hoping he can play at least as well in Ireland as he did at Twickenham. If we're to be considered a great team, we've got to be consistently winning away from home.
Posted 20:52 05th February 2013
decky100 says...
@lacroix 'if, if, if..'... if your mum had nuts she'd be your dad lol. noone has any IDEA what's going to happen on the weekend. form is almost insignificant in the six nations. england could get badly beaten by france, who may unleash their style at any moment.. they could get beat by wales who are going to be desperate to end their 8-game losing streak. mark my words, no fixture is a given.. just look what happened with italy on saturday for proof.
Posted 18:51 05th February 2013
carpelone says...
Maubec.
You raised an interesting point however. According to you, Italians living abroad have less right to play for Italy than Pacific Islanders living in New Zealand playing for the ABs?
I fully understand the right of people coming from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji to be grateful to New Zealand and play for the ABs, so there should be no discussion about Parisse and company.
Posted 14:14 05th February 2013
carpelone says...
Maubec
Parisse's family is from L'Aquila. His father used to play scrum half in the Italian league. Then he moved to Argentina, where Sergio was born and bred. He could have chosen Argentina, but in the end chose Italy. End of discussion. I know his story because I have friends from L'Aquila. I am not sure about the other two. In any case, all of them are from Italian families living abroad.
Does this make my daughter Italian? No, she is still South African, although an expat (sadly).
Posted 14:06 05th February 2013
lacroix says...
hardly arrogant to say Ireland will get well beaten by england based on this weekend.
in fact if Italy play the way they did against france they would beat Ireland, wales and Scotland comfortably.
astonishing to see so many irish players in this 'best of' when they went AWOL so desperately badly on saturday.
Posted 14:03 05th February 2013
decky100 says...
@r0n1n ireland don't have a hope in hell against england on sat? based on what? hope you end up eating your arrogant words;)
Posted 12:49 05th February 2013
oldflanker says...
Castrogiovanni Parisse & Orquera were not only born in Argentina but also grown in rugby here. True: the UAR is to blame they play abroad, like many others (Canale, Dominguez, Pez, etc). Anyway I enjoyed seen Italy playing great rugby for the first time!
Posted 12:44 05th February 2013
r0n1n says...
Should be a lot more england players in this list... that were utterly dominant all weekend... superb.. ireland don't stand a hope in hell at the weekend.
Posted 10:52 05th February 2013
Maubec says...
I'm sorry but Parisse is Argentinian. He chose Italy over Argentina because Italy offered him a spot in their first XV when Argentina only offered a spot in the junior XV.
What an terrific wrong choice from Argentina !
And that's not the same as the Pacific Islanders you're using for examples :
Except Sivivatu (arrived in NZ aged 15), all are born in NZ or have grown in NZ.
Mils (born in Samoa, arrived in NZ aged 2), SBW (born in Auckland), Lomu (born in Auckland), Umaga (born in Lower Hutt)...
Posted 10:24 05th February 2013
macte says...
@ oldflanker
as Carpelone has already noted, Parisse is 100% Italian. He was only born in Argentina because his father (himself a Serie A rugby player for L'Aquila), moved there.
I am surprised because Orquera has been around for quite a long time, and, under other coaching, he hardly made it to the team.
Apparently Brunel gave him more freedom and these are the results. Anyway, I'd wait for a few more games before saying the last word.
Posted 10:20 05th February 2013
kennyisgay says...
carpelone says "And more to come next years when you play the Boks" bwahhahahaha... is that like last year and the year before and so on. You forgot to mention all the Namibians etc that the boks poached.
Posted 10:05 05th February 2013
carpelone says...
Howley: Give Biggar time.
He should have told so to Best.
Posted 09:17 05th February 2013
carpelone says...
Bandage
Spot on.
Posted 09:16 05th February 2013
carpelone says...
TheGreatOne
If I am not mistaken, New Zealand got a sound and comprehensive smashing by England. And more to come next years when you play the Boks. I am not that sure about what you say.
Oldfarter
Parisse is 100% Italian, the other two are like the Pacific Islanders New Zealand bring in. If you consider them Argentinian, then Sivi, Mils, SBW, Lomu, Umaga (and I stop here only because I would exceed the word limit), should have never played for New Zealand.
I would agree with you if you have raised the issue with Botes and Geldenhuys playing for Italy.
Posted 09:14 05th February 2013
mayhem says...
Ah, was worried there was no anti-Welsh comment from the sad little troll known as FISH. please try and contribute something other than vitriol you pathetic little git. Wales are lucky to have one representative and rightly so, the nation arent on here trying to deny otherwise, we were awful.
As an aside, i think the other 5 nations all made excellent showings with lots to look forward to.
Posted 08:25 05th February 2013