Brian O’Driscoll: Player of the Tournament…

RBS 6 Nations number ten is done and dusted with Ireland standing out, shoulder to
shoulder, as Grand Slammers. 61 years of pain endured, it is fair to say, even those
fans old enough to remember Jackie Kyle and Karl Mullen’s 1948 band of brothers weren’t
shirking away from rounds at the bar on Saturday night.

The mean green XV claimed the medals but how many of their glory boys made the ScrumoftheEarth.com
side? There’s also the small matter of a Lions tour in the summer, so we’ve added
our starting line-up for the first Test at the bottom for you too. Do you agree? Let
us know…

15: Delon Armitage (England): England unearthed a gem in the flying full-back.
Played like an international veteran, countlessly leaping assuredly to claim the high-balls
and gave England more cut and thrust with his intuitive running lines from deep.


14 Tommy Bowe (Ireland): The fleet-footed Ulsterman won’t be welcome at Ospreys
training this week but the Irish winger is blessed with a full arsenal of skills,
notably his try against Wales and the last ditch tackle on Thom Evans against Scotland
were stand-out moments.

13 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland): Some say he’s lost a bit of pace, so what does
he do, master the art of a prop-forwards try. Answered those madmen that doubted BOD’s
place in green by putting in punishing shift after shift.  The talisman fully
deserves his moment of glory after a decade of unrewarded centre dominance.

12 Riki Flutey (England): The tournament’s top try-scorer was a breath of fresh
English air, bringing a new dimension to a previously clueless back-line. Gav didn’t
do enough while Jamie and D’Arcy aggressed in spurts. Flutey could well become the
first man to play for and against the Lions in South Africa.

11 Maxime Medard (France): Shane? Thom? Ugo? All endured their peaks and troughs
but the bushy burned Frenchman continuously showed his counter-attacking brilliance,
especially when maniac Marc ‘tinkerbell’ Lievremont decided what he wanted to do with
him.

10 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland): Jumping in and out of game’s like a sexually confused
teenager facing their closet, ROG came good when it mattered. Stephen Jones can count
himself unlucky but he lacks the Irishman’s match-winning bottle and those extra 55
inches of right-boot.


9 Morgan Parra (France): France like their goal-kicking nine’s and the Bourgoin
baby’s stellar performances against Wales and Italy marked him out amongst an ordinary
bunch. A tactician in the making, his incisive fringe running and slick hands were
a feature of inconsistent French fluidity.

1 Gethin Jenkins (Wales): A human bulldozer with the Chinese work-rate was
a shoo-in after the England game with a monumental 16 tackles. Covered every blade
of grass and the competition’s chief scrummage destroyer.

2 Jerry Flannery (Ireland): The Irish red-faced assassin shades Lee Mears in
a photo-finish. Both had their moments, especially their trademark accuracy in the
line-out but the Munster bruiser offered slightly more menace around the park.

3 Adam Jones (Wales): Rid of those awful braids, the fuzzy bear found an extra-yard
from somewhere and performed titanically as part of the most powerful and dynamic
Welsh front-row for donkeys years.

4 Alun Wyn Jones (Wales): Tackled more obstructions than the tournament’s organisers
and was richly rewarded for proposing a new generation of Welsh-lock with the captaincy
against Italy although he can expect strong challenges coming from Messrs Hines and
O’Callaghan in South Africa.

5 Paul O’Connell (Ireland): The ginger giant draws comparisons with England’s
former Captain Colossus, Martin Johnson, savaging bodies in the line-out, tackle-area
and fearlessly charging into contact without care for limb nor his sanity. The outstanding
forward of the tournament.

6 Thierry Dusautoir (France):  Taken Serge Betsen’s crown as le tour de
force on the French back-row, not only courtesy of his brutal tackle count, but also
his impressive tally of turnovers, stampeding link-up play and marauding athleticism.
A sublime all-round talent.

7 Martyn Williams (Wales): Untouchable when it comes to the breakdown business.
Even in his twilight years, the nugget is worth his weight in gold and it showed in
Rome where Wales were strangely outmuscled and bullied in the contact area.



8 Sergio Parisse (Italy): Mr. Italy at fly-half, centre, full-back, hooker…
Anywhere. More carries, yardage and reverse-flick passes than his peers, Parisse betters
Imanol Harinordoquy and Jamie Heaslip to the title.

British Lions XV

15 Lee Byrne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O’Driscoll (c), 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Shane Williams,
10 Ronan O’Gara, 9 Mike Phillips, 1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Jerry Flannery, 3 Euan Murray,
4 Nathan Hines, 5 Paul O’Connell, 6 Tom Croft, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Jamie Heaslip.

It wasn’t the jackpot but England bagged the oldest prize, The Calcutta Cup, and gave Martin Johnson and his team their first trophy, ending the Six Nations with a 26-12 victory over Scotland.

It wasn’t the try-scoring jamboree of last weekend, but England gained back-to-back
wins for the first time since 2007 with a performance that promised plenty of zest
but often lacked fluency against their gritty Caledonian neighbours.

On the Six Nations final day under-card, international rugby’s oldest rivals slugged
it out like two seasoned heavyweights, but as the clocked ticked towards the closing
rounds, there was only going to be one winner, especially with both sets of players
out on their feet by the end of the contest.

England bossed territory and possession but found a stubborn Scottish defence difficult
to grind down. Despite large periods of pressure, England lacked a cutting edge in
the second-half with first half injuries to Phil Vickery and Harry Ellis stiffling
the red rose’s momentum.

Three more tries, to go with the 13 already scored, championed England at the tournament’s
top try-scorers and Mike Tindall was quick to heap praise on the team’s new style
of play and coach Brian Smith.

“It’s the most pleasing aspect of the tournament but it’s just disappointing that
maybe we should’ve been going for a Grand Slam.

“We’ve made a lot of progression during the course of the tournament. Today we were
a bit sloppy and perhaps too eager but hopefully everyone can see the way we want
to play.”

Riki Flutey has been the heartbeat of England’s ambitious approach and the Man-of-the-Match
treated the sell-out Twickenham crowd to another sensational display of  quick
feet, delicate hands and try-scorers instinct.

Ugo Monye raced into score England’s first after some neat Toby Flood hands before
Flutey used all of his strength to carry three Scots over the line en route to his
fourth score of the tournament albeit after television adjudication.

Limited they may have been, but with their coach’s job on the line, Scotland refused
to throw in the towel and played, as Johsnon predicted with a “chip on their shoulder,”

Some heroic defending from the auld enemy, coupled with England’s growing tally of
penalties (11) and self-imposed errors, ensured Scotland were in with a shout with
ten minutes to go as Phil Godman and Chris Paterson nudged over long-distance penalties.

Try as they might smashing into England’s midfield, Scotland’s largely ineffective
dominance came in short bursts and in fairly ineffective field position and with Matt
Tait’s late effort putting the gloss on the scoreboard, Scotland were taught a lesson
in execution.

It wasn’t at its best but pleasing aspects for Johnson – the ever-growing confidence
of Flood, Flutey and Tindall’s greater understanding in the centres, Delon Armitage’s
maturity at full-back and Tom Croft’s athletic contribution in the back-row – will
be ending with a win but second place isn’t something he will cheer about too long
into next week.

Lee Mears: Soon to be the new nose of Kenco…

England must front-up and be switched on if they are going to match a near-perfect
Scotland scrum, according to Graham Rowntree.

Scotland may only have the one win in this year’s competition but their ferocious
scrum has claimed its fair share of scalps along the way.

Rowntree, whose trademark cauliflower ears serve as a reminder of the brutal physicalities
of front-row aritistry, said: “There are not many bigger packs around the world than
Scotland and what they did to Ireland and Italy, and indeed to South Africa and New
Zealand in the autumn, shows their forward play, not just their scrummaging, has really
improved.”

Euan Murray has been at the core of Scotland’s savage set-piece and Rowntree admits
he is a “big fan” of the Northampton Saints prop.

England hooker Lee Mears can’t wait for the “huge battle” with Murray after the pair
made acquaintances during Bath’s draw at Franklins Gardens earlier this season.

“All tight-heads wander into my area at some point or another, so i’ll be looking
forward to having a word in his ear at the weekend.

“Scotland has just started to play together and like us, they’ve kept a similar side
and are blessed with big units. Murray’s scrummaging well, Alastair Dickinson’s a
livewire and they’ve got big bruisers in Nathan Hines, Jason White and Jim Hamilton.”

Mears, who is reaping the rewards courtesy of Martin Johnson’s selection policy, is
anticipating Scotland to throw the kitchen sink at the red rose pack.

“We must express ourselves and put pressure on Scotland even when we haven’t got the
ball. We must force them to work outside of their game plan.

“Whenever you play away, you’ve got to dominate the opposition forwards and they stand
a good chance, especially with great attacking options like the Evans brothers. [Thom
and Max} It’s going be tough day.”