Six Nations Team of the Week: Italy and France dominate to detriment of England as ‘thundering’ forward takes individual honour
Italy centre Tommaso Menoncello and France lock Mickael Guillard both make the team.
After a wonderful opening round to the 2026 Six Nations, the headlines were all made on the European mainland, as France, Italy and England picked up home wins.
Les Bleus disposed of Ireland convincingly, Scotland were dampened by a brilliant Azzurri display in a Rome downpour, while England consigned Wales to another loss at the Allianz.
Without further do here’s our Six Nations Team of the Week.
Six Nations Team of Round One
15 Thomas Ramos (France): The volley king did it again as he made another memorable try for Louis Bielle-Biarrey in a brilliant display from 15. Add in nearly 100 metres made, another try assist and 11 points off the tee, it was another stellar outing for the Stade Toulousain genius. Wales might not have much to write home about, but Louis Rees-Zammit had a couple of electric moments at Twickenham.
14 Henry Arundell (England): It’s almost impossible to split out the performances of four wingers this round. Bielle-Biarrey maintains what appears to be his long-term residency on our left wing picks, and that left us tossing a three-sided coin between including Arundell on his club-favoured right wing, or recognising Louis Lynagh‘s superb performance for the Azzurri, or France’s Theo Attissogbe and his all-round excellence in Paris. However, a hat-trick is a hat-trick, and on that basis, Arundell is our man.
13 Nacho Brex (Italy): The Planet Rugby build-up targeted the battle between Huw Jones and Brex as the key to the match, and it proved prophetic as the Italy vice-captain gave his team a quite brilliant display on both sides of the ball, creating one try and leading a massive defensive effort. Nicolas Depoortere was a hammer in the carry for France, and ditto Tommy Freeman for England, although he’ll need to work on his passing efforts if he wants to make 13 his permanent home.
12 Tommaso Menoncello (Italy): The Brexoncello partnership gets selected en bloc as the Toulouse-bound starlet scored one brilliant try and supported his midfield partner in a massive defensive effort. Both Yoram Moefana and Fraser Dingwall should be proud of their efforts for France and England, respectively, as they were the perfect enablers for all the chaos around them.
11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France): Is there a week where he fails to make our combined teams in either European or Test rugby? It’s hard to think of one, and the finish for his opening try was absolutely out of the top drawer. Monty Ioane skid and slid all over the sodden Rome turf but always threatened the Scots as he played his part in an outstanding Azzurri three-quarter effort.
10 Matthieu Jalibert (France): The remarkable thing about the performance from the UBB 10 was how he played to plan, getting France’s ‘Vertical Threat’ going straight down the middle of the park with some wonderful touches. Add in a try and some really improved defence, and he grabs the shirt by a whisker from England’s brilliant playmaker, George Ford, who could easily have made the team any other weekend.
9 Antoine Dupont (France): The chat around if Jalibert and Dupont could create a stable hinge was asked and answered emphatically in Paris. Dupont was near flawless in his pace and precision, and left Stade de France to a standing ovation. England’s Alex Mitchell was the pacemaker of England’s heartbeat, fast from the base and intelligent in distribution, whilst Italy’s Alessandro Fusco switched the attack direction magnificently for the Lynagh try.
The forwards
8 Ben Earl (England): Earl topped the match stats for carries, clean breaks, and turnovers whilst grabbing a try and making 78 metres, once again making a mockery of those that claim he’s ‘not a real eight’. It’s a tad harsh on Lorenzo Cannone who made 15 tackles, 15 carries, a turnover, 59 metres and three defenders beaten in a performance of seismic proportions for the Azzurri eight, whilst Anthony Jelonch‘s last 20 minutes were a defensive masterclass for France in Paris.
7 Oscar Jegou (France): Although he played in the French system as ‘right flanker’ as opposed to either open or blind, he’s the nearest thing that Les Bleus have picked for years to a traditional British or Southern Hemisphere seven. 15 tackles, a turnover, nine carries and three defenders beaten underline his value. He takes the shirt by a whisker over Italy’s Manuel Zuliani, another Azzurri who jumped in to the deep end in the Rome deluge. Finally, a word for Rory Darge; Scotland may have fallen apart, but he was a constant of excellence in an otherwise dismal afternoon for Gregor Townsend’s team.
6 Michele Lamaro (Italy): The passion in the Italian skipper’s post-match really summed the man up. He leads by example, he puts his head where others would fear to put their feet, and he deserved every plaudit he got on Saturday. A word for two of the glue players of Test rugby; Guy Pepper never stopped making interventions for England, and was especially good in sweeping up the ‘drop zone’ mess, whilst France looked a different team with their unsung dark art master, Francois Cros, back doing all of the critical work around the breakdown.
5 Mickeal Guillard (France): He’s our Player of the Round after a quite majestic performance in every aspect of his game in Paris. Every one of his 16 thundering carries were recorded as ‘dominant’ as he gained 46 crucial metres. He won two turnovers, was flawless at the lineout and gave France all their front-foot momentum. Ollie Chessum is really unlucky to lose out as he was commanding for England, and Tadhg Beirne was one of the few Irishmen to come out of Paris in credit.
4 Niccolo Cannone (Italy): 25 tackles, four lineout steals and thundering breakdown work sees Niccolo match his brother’s effort blow for blow. It was hard to leave out France’s Charles Ollivon, who could easily have claimed Player of the Match in Paris as he scored his 18th Test try, but we’ll side with Cannone on this occasion. England’s Alex Coles also deserves a mention – his counter-jumping really caused Wales issues, and he vindicated his starting place.
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3 Simone Ferrari (Italy): The eponymous Italian car-maker recently announced that their new ‘Purosangue’ model is their first true 4×4 mud plugger. Not on your life. It’s clear to us they’ve overlooked the claims of the Benetton tighthead, as the 131kg 69 Test veteran put in the performance of his test career as he dismantled a Scottish front-row propped by two British and Irish Lions. England’s Joe Heyes was massive in his defensive work, hammering Welsh backs for fun and he’s added a lot of mobility to his tight game since getting his chance.
2 Giacomo Nicotera (Italy): 17 tackles and the destruction of the Scottish scrum sees the man known as the bull take the two shirt. Jamie George‘s early ‘game management’ led one of the Twickenham faithful to bellow out ‘Jinx, you’re the best ref I’ve seen this season’ from the middle of the East Stand, as the veteran hooker gave us another masterclass of leadership and the hooking craft.
1 Danilo Fischetti (Italy): We simply had to pick the Azzurri front-row en masse as their effort was the key to their victory. And Fischetti absolutely monstered Zander Fagerson at times, and was his usual effervescent self around the park. In an era where bench impact is all, Bevan Rodd can be very pleased with his 40-minute effort, as his power and mobility in the loose really made an impact on England’s second-half showing.
