6 nations player of the tournament so far?

In my opinion its been Wales flanker Dan Lydiate despite missing the first game he's been outstanding he was top tackle against England with 17 tackles made and 0 missed, he's always quick out of the block and carries well too, he's a very under rated player imo, sort of in the shadow of the impressive captain warburton,
so who does everyone else think has been the player of the tournament so far?

I actually think that Rennie from Scotland has been the standout player so far.

DENTON

From Scotland does not look too bad, he could be in contention, for now.

Yeah Denton is also a great call Maj

Ryan Jones

He has been our best or second best forward when playing 6, 4 and off the bench.

Best newcomer = Denton/Rennie

Pot Noodle Miner wrote:In my opinion its been Wales flanker Dan Lydiate despite missing the first game he's been outstanding he was top tackle against England with 17 tackles made and 0 missed, he's always quick out of the block and carries well too, he's a very under rated player imo, sort of in the shadow of the impressive captain warburton,
so who does everyone else think has been the player of the tournament so far?

The ESPN stats show only 10 tackles and 1 mssed for that game.

http://www.espnscrum.com/six-nations-2012/rugby/match/133774.html


I agree with eirebilly, Rennie so far.

Probably Rennie, though I would accept the logic behind Denton, Halfpenny, JD2 and Barritt (he has done his job fantastically even if England haven't been great and has offered far more on attack than a lot of people implied he was capable of. He has been a contender for MOTM, IMO, in every he has played). If Kearney has a good game against France, I'd put him in the running too

I'd probaby go with Rennie, Dusitoir or Warburton.

Kearney, Ferris and O'Connell have stood out for Ireland. Davies and North have impressed too.

If i had to pick a player of the tournement so far from each team it would be so:

Wales - Lydiate
England - Barritt
France - Dusitoir
Ireland - Kearney
Scotland - Rennie
Italy - Parisse (as always)

Not sure about Dusitour, yes he tackles like a demon but to me he's a very good six and at times a brilliant player who grafts with the best of them; but I can't remember ever seeing him really do anything spectacular like Reed, Burger, Ferris, O'Brien or Elsom at their best.

A grafting tackling machine yes but then so was Worsley and infact nearly any pro 6.

Anyway my player of the tournament would be Denton, closely followed by Phillips.

yappysnap wrote:Not sure about Dusitour, yes he tackles like a demon but to me he's a very good six and at times a brilliant player who grafts with the best of them; but I can't remember ever seeing him really do anything spectacular like Reed, Burger, Ferris, O'Brien or Elsom at their best.

A grafting tackling machine yes but then so was Worsley and infact nearly any pro 6.

Anyway my player of the tournament would be Denton, closely followed by Phillips.

WC final - Dusatoir's performance was the best individual performance I have ever seen.

Ah yeah Phillips good shout! Sorry forgot about him, he'd be up there for sure.

England - Farrell
Scotland - Rennie
Ireland - Kearney
Wales - R.Jones
France - Fofana
Italy - Parisse

Fofana wales? Personally i feel that he has only been good in spats. Ok in those spats he has been excellent but he has also been MIA for large chunks in both French matches.

Not sure how Dusautoir could even be compared to Joe Worsley. Apart from the fact Dusautoir isn't actually a 6, he does a whole lot more than simply tackle. And even still he makes an incredibly high number of tackles each game. He is the talisman for France and possibly the best player in the world. Up there anyways. Motivates the entire team.

Let's hope Fofana doesn't pick the Ireland game to move up a notch, billy!

For me - Phillips. It takes a lot for me to say that considering his legal and 'illegal' direct relationship with Ireland misery. But that's how good he's been. I also found a soft spot for him in his after-game very gracious comments.

Not a chance Fly, Ireland (D'Arcy) will play him out of the match

Phillips was very good against Ireland, ok against Scotland then poor against England.

wales606 wrote:Phillips was very good against Ireland, ok against Scotland then poor against England.

If that's the tally, then he shares it with almost all players in this championship...good, not so good, poor. That still leaves him top for now in my eyes.

SecretFly wrote:

wales606 wrote:Phillips was very good against Ireland, ok against Scotland then poor against England.

If that's the tally, then he shares it with almost all players in this championship...good, not so good, poor. That still leaves him top for now in my eyes.

Well, North was excellent, poor, good

R.Jones was excellent, good, good

Warburton was ok, excellent

Lydiate was excellent, good

Do you Welsh fans think that you might be so lucky as Ireland was and run up a similar score against Italy?

Halfpenny so far - Fofana to be the find of the 6 Nations

Halfpenny? Ruby!!! take those rose tinted glasses off and put the cowboy hat down for a second

He has been good but not that good

wales606 wrote:

SecretFly wrote:

wales606 wrote:Phillips was very good against Ireland, ok against Scotland then poor against England.

If that's the tally, then he shares it with almost all players in this championship...good, not so good, poor. That still leaves him top for now in my eyes.

Well, North was excellent, poor, good

R.Jones was excellent, good, good

Warburton was ok, excellent

Lydiate was excellent, good

We all look for different things I suppose. I'll stick with Phillips still.

Not sure how Halfpenny can get the pick at XV. Kearney has been better than ever, Hogg has been a class act too.

Maybe its because Halfpenny is expected to be good that he doesnt stand out so much anymore?

Ist game 1/2 p plays very well and kicks a pressure penalty to win the match
2nd game - 2 trys and numerous kicks for a 17 point hail in another impressive performance
3rd game - the guy has another solid game at FB kicks 5/6 at goal and shows great courage in preventing a try at the death

I cannot see anyone as consistent - Kearney catches well and the tempo goes up for a while but apart from those cameos what have we seen in 2 games, no trys and what you remember from him is just a couple of catches.

Well I think he has stood out, just not as much as the other two. Great boot on him and has done Wales a huge favour. Also scored a few tries. In terms of overall brilliance though I think Kearney is much better. Kearney has never been this good, especially not in attack. He just was a threat every time he got the ball.

Personally i feel that Rennie from Scotland has been the best so far. He has fone forward in a loosing side and has always made ground.

So Kearneys the dangerous threat and 1/2p just has the trys

eirebilly wrote:Personally i feel that Rennie from Scotland has been the best so far. He has fone forward in a loosing side and has always made ground.

Agreed.

RubyGuby wrote:So Kearneys the dangerous threat and 1/2p just has the trys

Visser scores a lot of tries. Does that make him the best winger in the world?

Halfpenny has been great. I just think that Kearney has been better.

eirebilly wrote:If i had to pick a player of the tournement so far from each team it would be so:

Wales - Lydiate
England - Barritt
France - Dusitoir
Ireland - Kearney
Scotland - Rennie
Italy - Parisse (as always)

Good call eirebilly


I would vouch for.........

Wales - Jon Davies
England - Barritt
France - Fofana
Ireland - Kearney
Scotland - Denton
Italy - Canale

No Irish player deserves any plaudits (praise maybe but not medals)....................yet!


But we have still three games to play. That's more than enough time to change perceptions about who might be top dog by the end.

Rennie and Denton have been great for Scotland.

Warburton stood out last week as well.

Adam Jones.

Taffineastbourne wrote:Adam Jones.

Got any stats to back that claim up?


Just messing with you Taff

Fofana for me.

Surprised to see others not rate him..?

Has lovely touches great vision wonderful pace too.

Its not that others dont rate him maest. I rate him highly but i feel that he is absent alot during matches. He has moments of brilliance but that is outweighed but his absence.

Thats just me though.

maestegmafia wrote:Fofana for me.

Surprised to see others not rate him..?

Has lovely touches great vision wonderful pace too.

Ireland and France are in the two game purgatory. Fofana certainly looks absolutely lethal... but we'll have to see a bit more of it (when teams now are more ready for him too) before he can be called best player.

Rennies a good shout, also a very under rated player he reminds me of martyn Williams in his prime

Farrell, by a mile. Best new coach, Lancaster.

Best new coach that coaches a team with English players taking up most spots - correct, it is Lancaster.

maestegmafia wrote:Fofana for me.

Surprised to see others not rate him..?

Has lovely touches great vision wonderful pace too.

I did ..............

How are are you Maes?

flyhalffactory wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Fofana for me.

Surprised to see others not rate him..?

Has lovely touches great vision wonderful pace too.

I did ..............

How are are you Maes?

Very well mate, sunning myself in the Caribbean at the moment. What a great spot. Will hopefully catch the rugby tomorrow but home in time to take my place at the MS for the Italy match.

A friend of mine at the WRU joked how the last two times my wife and I had ventured out here during the six nations Wales had won Grandslams, at that point I asked if roger Lewis would mind footing the cost of the flights for us, unfortunately Roger is not so supersticious.

maestegmafia wrote:

flyhalffactory wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Fofana for me.

Surprised to see others not rate him..?

Has lovely touches great vision wonderful pace too.

I did ..............

How are are you Maes?

Very well mate, sunning myself in the Caribbean at the moment. What a great spot. Will hopefully catch the rugby tomorrow but home in time to take my place at the MS for the Italy match.

A friend of mine at the WRU joked how the last two times my wife and I had ventured out here during the six nations Wales had won Grandslams, at that point I asked if roger Lewis would mind footing the cost of the flights for us, unfortunately Roger is not so supersticious.

Hahaha love it .............. better get your Grand Slam Dunk 2012 tee shirt, there's a great chance now

Have a great time and regards to your Missus

flyhalffactory wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

flyhalffactory wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Fofana for me.

Surprised to see others not rate him..?

Has lovely touches great vision wonderful pace too.

I did ..............

How are are you Maes?

Very well mate, sunning myself in the Caribbean at the moment. What a great spot. Will hopefully catch the rugby tomorrow but home in time to take my place at the MS for the Italy match.

A friend of mine at the WRU joked how the last two times my wife and I had ventured out here during the six nations Wales had won Grandslams, at that point I asked if roger Lewis would mind footing the cost of the flights for us, unfortunately Roger is not so supersticious.

Hahaha love it .............. better get your Grand Slam Dunk 2012 tee shirt, there's a great chance now

Have a great time and regards to your Missus

Cheers mate we are having a wonderful time swimming every day and becoming very accustomed to a local Rastas beach shacks mango dakris...!

Looking forward to next weekend though.

I agree with the calls for Halfpenny, think hes been consistently very good, Kearney does look like hes having a return to from but we'll see how he goes in the france game.

Fofana has also been very good, does tend to come in fits and starts but could iron that out and become a top player. Really don't get all the hype about Phillips, I'm english and when i see him play against other teams i find myself screaming at him to get the ball out. He also has a habit of when Wales make a break and the ball needs to go wide, he will just take it up himself and slow things down. He really believes all the hype about him and thinks he can just charge straight through forwards.

Rennie, Denton and Gray have been very good for Scotland, Barritt and Farrell have been solid for england (dickson has been providing ggood tempo and Cole has made quite a few turnovers). Agree that Ryan jones has been in great form for wales too, bit confused by the person calling for adam jones though!

Halfpenny is a good shout.

His defence is phenomenal - I can't think of a better defensive winger and he is carrying that on at FB. He is also a very good finisher and goal kicker.

All good shouts, I think Rennie is doing a Parrisse type for Scotland at the moment, but again he just lacks the finishing touches, that fluffed chance V England stands out. But he's definately in the running.

Warbs is playing and captaining beautifully!

Dusatoir is just immense at present!

I don't think 1/2p has made a mistake, game winner V Ireland and game saver V England!

For me I also want to mention a few names noone has, Hogg has done a very good job for Scotland, as has Ghiraldini in the Italian pack, last but not least Malzeiu has returned to electric form for france and has been devestating, I think Fofana has been ok, but made a few mistakes, but Malzeiu has just been something else.

And a little further back I have been impressed with Denton, De Luca, Lydiate, Ian Evans, Kearney, and Pape!