Six Nations Round 1: Team of the Week

1. Mako Vunipola 

The loosehead consistently put pressure on his opposite number at scrum time, got through a huge amount of work at the breakdown and stood up in defence when required. He looked menacing at times with ball in hands, running some excellent lines and showed beautifully soft offloading skills to create attacking opportunities for his teammates. His wide skillset was on show in the build-up to Farrell’s try.

2. Guilhem Guirado

The French captain was his side’s standout performer on an abysmal night in Paris. He made a massive 31 tackles for Les Bleus as they tried to keep the Irish at bay. The French lineout functioned adequately and the skipper must have been shattered when he was substituted on 74 minutes.

3. Samson Lee

Some great hands in the first half to put Moriarty away. Scrum was a strong point for Wales giving their backs a solid platform to attack from. A good shift from the Scarlets tighthead.

4. Iain Henderson

The Ulsterman was one of Ireland’s main ball carriers on Saturday and though his stats don’t show it, he made a number of crucial metres for his side in adverse conditions. He had a perfect tackle success rate, making 8 dominant hits, but his real moment of the match came when claiming Sexton’s drop-out in the dying moments, to start the drive which won the match.

5. Alun Wyn Jones

Lineout functioned well and put the Scottish set-piece under pressure. Good support lines but couldn’t give the final offload to Evans for the try in the 1^st half that would’ve killed the game. It happened again in the 2^nd half to Gareth Anscombe. Has lost a bit of dynamism in comparison to his younger teammates but his great rugby brain allows him to continue to excel at this level. Much better in the loose than he has been in recent years.

6. Aaron Shingler

Good running lines from the blindside led to a couple of linebreaks. His great offloading game kept the ball alive putting the Scottish defence under pressure. Keen to get off the line and shut down the Scottish attack. Deservedly awarded the MOTM award.

7. Josh Navidi

Won two key turnovers inside his 22 in the 1^st half to stop the Scots dead in their tracks. Great chop tackling and strong carries when called upon. Wales top tackler with 17 successful efforts. Wales won’t miss Sam Warburton at all if the openside can keep up this run of form.

8. Sam Simmonds

A couple of tries and a try-assist for the Chiefs man on his Six Nations debut today in Rome. He managed to make 80m and beat 6 defenders as England’s top carrier with 14. Was also his side’s top tackler with a mammoth 23, missing none.

9. Gareth Davies

Well-read intercept which put Wales into the lead early on. Quick to clear the ball from the breakdown which negated Scotland chances to counter ruck. His quick play allowed Wales to get a number of tries out wide.

10. Jonathan Sexton

Sexton was the stand out performer in the backline as Ireland edged past France by a narrow margin. Attacked the line impressively and showed good awareness to set teammates into key attacking spaces. Accurate with the boot and slotted an incredible 45m drop goal to clinch the victory in the 83^rd minute of play. and winner of the man of the match award

11. Steff Evans

So dangerous, beating the first tackler every time. Unlucky not to get over in the opening period. Great kicking in behind and good offloading game. The Scottish defence couldn’t handle him at all as he made 113m and 2 clean breaks. Setup Leigh Halfpenny’s 2^nd with deft handling. Superb finish in the corner for the bonus point try. Was many pundits' MOTM on Saturday.

12. Owen Farrell

The English inside centre was the standout performer in a fluid backline performance as his side cruised to victory Italy. He showed great intelligence to run some beautiful attacking lines and saw his efforts rewarded when he crashed over the whitewash to finish off a lovely try. He consistently got in over the ball and disrupted the speed of the opposition attack, defended doggedly and consistently smashed his opposite number back over the gainline.

13. Robbie Henshaw 

Henshaw was one of the best performers in the Irish backline this weekend. He posed a constant threat in attack and caused the French defence an array of problems throughout. Perhaps most impressive was his rock solid defensive display. He made some crushing hits at key moments of the game and saved a couple of certain tries. He was also very hard working at the breakdown and consistently slowed down the speed of the French attack.

14. Anthony Watson

The Bath flyer finished off a couple of five-pointer expertly in the first half. He beat the Italian cover for pace to score in the corner. He beat a total of 4 defenders on Sunday evening with his electric footwork and fitted seamlessly into fullback in the absence of Mike Brown.

15. Leigh Halfpenny 

Broke his drought by scoring his 1^st and 2^nd tries for Wales in 5 years. He swept up Hogg’s chips in the first half well and kicked well at goal, adding to his tally of 24 points.