A LONE ITALIAN, two Scots, two Welshmen and two stand-out Englishmen have forced their way in among eight Grand Slam champions in our thinking for team of the tournament.
There were tough calls along the way, and there are at least seven more Irish players who are unlucky to miss out, but here’s the squad we’ve come up with before the snow settles on the 2018 Championship.
The42′s Six Nations Team of the Championship
15. Matteo Minozzi (Italy)
14. Keith Earls (Ireland)
13. Huw Jones (Scotland)
12. Owen Farrell (England)
11. Jacob Stockdale (Ireland)
10. Johnny Sexton (Ireland)
9. Conor Murray (Ireland)
1. Mako Vunipola (England)
2. Rory Best (Ireland)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)
4 James Ryan (Ireland)
5. Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)
6. Aaron Shingler (Wales)
7. Dan Leavy (Ireland)
8. John Barclay (Scotland)
Replacements
16. Guilhem Guirado (France)
17. Cian Healy (Ireland)
18. Rabah Slimani (France)
19. Iain Henderson (Ireland)
20. Peter O’Mahony (Ireland)
21. Gareth Davies (Wales)
22. Bundee Aki (Ireland)
23. Stuart Hogg (Scotland)