Player of the tournament
Nominees: Sam Warburton, Paul O’Connell, Alun Wyn Jones, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Jonathan Joseph, George Ford, Ben Youngs, Billy Vunipola, Dan Biggar
The official player of the tournament shortlist, for another year in a row, has proved some way wide of the mark, with their reliance on stats meaning several obvious candidates miss out – most notably Wales captain Sam Warburton, whose leading of a side that was crushed in the first round to the brink of the title deserves a huge amount of praise.
Johnny Sexton was accuracy personified in the early rounds and Paul O’Connell continues to defy his age with an insatiable work rate, but our player of the tournament is England centre Jonathan Joseph. He was quiet against Ireland but other than that, there was no more exciting player to watch over the past two months, his jinking step and outside break proving far too much for most defences. He has made the England 13 shirt his own, something no-one has done in the absence of Tuilagi. Indeed, so good was Joseph that the giant Leicester centre is unlikely to get a look in at 13 for the World Cup.
Winner: Jonathan Joseph
Emerging player of the tournament
Nominees: Robbie Henshaw, Jack Nowell, Luca Morisi, Mark Bennett, Jonny Gray
There aren’t too many nominees for this one, but it is still an immensely close-fought award. Luca Morisi stunned the Twickenham crowd with two sublime tries against England, and proved that Italy can play with flair when they want to. Mark Bennett and Jonny Gray were shining lights in a losing Scotland side, the former making line breaks at will and the latter topping his side’s tackle count in every game. Jack Nowell only played three games, but in two of them was a beacon of attacking menace and finished with three tries to his name.
But the award can only really go to Robbie Henshaw, who has shown immense maturity in the Ireland midfield at the age of just 21. He has now played more games at inside centre for his country than his club, and that really outlines how impressive it is that he seems so comfortable in an international midfield. He was rock solid in the opening rounds and showed against Scotland that he has plenty of ability with ball in hand, too.
Winner: Robbie Henshaw
Game of the tournament
Nominees: Wales vs England, Wales vs Ireland, Italy vs Wales, Scotland vs Ireland, England vs France
Before the final weekend, there hadn’t been too many vintage games. The opening game between Wales and England on a Friday night was a raw occasion and, if the rugby wasn’t always that thrilling, it was packed with emotion that sums up this great tournament. Ireland’s visit to Cardiff was similarly epic, and deserves a mention for one of the gutsiest defensive displays you’ll ever see.
Then, of course, there was the final day, when there were more twists and turns than any reasonable fan could deal with. All games were epics but England vs France has to take the biscuit, mainly because it came last and therefore all parties knew what every score meant. The common sense-defying way in which England seemed to take one step towards the title, only for France to hit back almost immediately, was astonishing. For the first time in the tournament, the French played the rugby we know they are capable of, and in the end it denied England the title. It was an exhaustingly brilliant game.
Winner: England vs France
Villain of the tournament
Nominees: France, scrum resets, Scotland, concussion, the Italy vs France game
France again proved they don’t have a clue what they’re doing under Philippe Saint-AndrĂ©. Inconsistent selection and a lack of anything approaching a gameplan meant they flattered to deceive for the umpteenth year in a row. Scotland came into the tournament with optimism surrounding them, only to grab the wooden spoon once again after failing to win a single game, the low point being a home loss to the one-dimensional Italians.
Pretty much every game had a period of mind-numbing reset scrums, and the sooner the clock is stopped while the ball is in the scrum, the better. George North’s sickening concussion in the opening game, only for him to stay on the pitch after it was “missed”, really brought this dangerous matter to a head, and it can only be hoped that new measures are put in place to stop it happening again. The winner of this award is the Italy vs France game, however – 80 minutes of the most tedious rugby ever seen.
Winner: the Italy vs France game
Coach of the tournament
Nominees: Stuart Lancaster, Joe Schmidt, Warren Gatland
Gatland deserves great credit for re-instilling belief in the Wales team after their crushing loss on opening weekend to England, while Stuart Lancaster again had England playing the most exciting rugby of the Championship.
But this can, of course, only go to one man. Joe Schmidt has to be one of the shrewdest coaches the game has seen, and his ability to dismantle teams after identifying their weaknesses is utterly ruthless. They were denied a Grand Slam by one of the great defensive performances, but he picked his side up to hammer Scotland sufficiently in the final round to win a second consecutive Six Nations title.
Winner: Joe Schmidt
Try of the tournament
Given the way the final day went, there are probably too many nominees to list. Scott Williams’ finish of a Welsh breakout from their own five metre line was stunning, as was Ben Youngs’ second against France in similar circumstances. Jonathan Joseph’s double against Italy both deserve mentions, as do many others that we don’t have space to go into.
But the award goes to Vincent Debaty’s effort against England in the final game. How did a loosehead prop, 60 minutes into a gruellingly open game, have the pace and stamina to keep up with a winger and take an offload to score? I’ve still no idea, but he did just that, after Mermoz’s silky footwork had sent Noa Nakaitaci free down the left hand touchline.
Winner:
Video credit: RBS 6 Nations
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
16 replies on “Six Nations 2015: The Rugby Blog Awards”
Wow. I imagine Brighty will have exploded upon seeing Warburton and Wales v Ireland not only losing our in their respective awards, but losing out to England.
Jamie – what have you done. The cacophony of rage and injustice that follows is on your head.
Great try. God-awful defence from England mind
Wales v Ireland for me. Granted I’m Welsh so am bias more towards that game, but I don’t think we saw better game management or a more committed performance all tournament.
From an ‘entertainment for the masses’ viewpoint then England v France. That though, for me, was just rugby insanity.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion mind, so no toys out the pram here đŸ˜‰
I’d like to nominate Leon for the funniest post of the 6n’s.
In response to Prophet Enoch’s “Box of chocolates” analogy Re France –
Leon February 27, 2015 at 10:05 am
“Yes very bad analogy indeed.
Chocolates are normally made to a very consistent level of quality and the contents of the box will always contain the same selection, in essence one box is very much like the other.
With the France team of the other hand it normally anyones guess as to which flavours of chocolates PSA will decide to put in any given box and it is a further lottery as to whether the chocolates selected will taste anything like they are supposed to.
The France team is more like a woolworths pick and mix. Theres the same selection of sweets available every week but its difficult to tell if they are past their use by date, have been rolling around on the floor, or have been licked/fondled by small children. One bag is never quite like another but it still has the potential to be a tasty treat”
How prophetic was that – “but it still has the potential to be a tasty treat”
DDD
Thank you, thank you, you are of course too kind.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who helped me win this award:
My Mum, My Dad, Prophet Enoch, My Minis rugby coach and of course Tom Hanks
To quote/paraphrase the great forest gump himself
“I may not be a smart man, but a sure know what ‘French rugby’ is”
Leon – You haven’t won yet!! – I was nominating you!
I usually don’t get agreed with!!!
DDD
Doh!
Premature again the wife might have something to say about that
Its like the England win the GS video of 2011 all over again
Henshaw over Ford for emerging player? Yeah Ford made a few bench cameos last year so isn’t exactly a newcomer to the 6N, but neither is Nowell.
How was Ford not even nominated?
What about Referee and villain referee of the tournament nominations. I would suggest Nigel Owens and Wayne Barnes and will leave it to you to work out the obvious.
How is Barnes a villain?
Blub
Try asking ANY Irish person.
Apparently some commentators think that correctly applying the rules at the breakdown and thus apparently denying a crucial strength of one particular team is villainous, the rest of us think it was a fair cop!
Liono
How could you tell whether it was a case of ‘correctly applying the rules at the breakdown’? I stated elsewhere that it was a pity that there weren’t TV replays regds the 2 Ireland pens @ the end (Barnes has been sent to apologise before I believe for getting it wrong). indeed English supporters might have thought similarly about Owens pen when he pinged them when also ‘ATTACKING’ the Fr line @ the end.
I certainly couldn’t tell. Isn’t that aq task for the TMO tho?
Blub I agree with you 100% – While Barnes displays many villainous traits -cruelty -maliciousness -amorality and weak hair, he falls down on the fact that villains are usually intelligent. Well put Blub – I couldn’t have put it better myself and if I had said it I would have been accused of being small minded etc.
Thanks
DDD
I see!
So my Villain then (against my initial thoughts) was Nigel Owens for penalising England instead of letting them get that last try.
And for not ruling the Fijian fella touch in goal.
And for yellow carding Haskell, just for falling over.
And for humiliating our captain (just for the TV) by treating him like a naughty schoolboy.
And for, er, NOT penalising France, er, enough.
Its a no-brainer now that I think about it like that…
Wales v Ireland for Game of the tournament – not just cos wales won (yay) but because for 80 minutes we got to watch real rugby both offense & defense working hard.
England v France showed plenty of tries (as did the 2nd half of Wales v Italy) but v.little solid defense. So doesn’t quite cut it for my liking. I don’t think considering the “final game status” makes it the best game, maybe the most suspense but not the best game of rugby. On those groups I think the Wales v Ireland does it, and it you want to factor in the final day – without Wales winning, it would of been an Ireland grand slam – not to exciting final weekend :p