Three Irish players selected in Six Nations team of the tournament

Three Irish players have been included in the official Six Nations Team of the Tournament. Hugo Keenan is named at full back. Josh van der Flier is picked at openside flanker, and Tadhg Furlong is selected at tighthead.

The team was selected via a social media poll, with over 60,000 votes being cast in total.

Champions France unsurprisingly dominate the side with 11 players selected overall. Maro Itoje is the sole England representative. While Scotland, Wales, and Italy fail to get any players in the side after largely disappointing campaigns.

Keenan had a brilliant tournament, with his last ditch tackle on Stuart Hogg against Scotland the highlight. van der Flier carried his superb form for Leinster into the international arena. He has added a try scoring touch to his excellent workrate, dotting down against Wales and Scotland in the Six Nations. He was the only Irish player to play every minute of the tournament.

Despite Ireland’s scrum woes against England, Furlong is selected at number three. The Leinster tighthead showed off all his ball skills with some excellent handling and footwork, particularly against Wales in Ireland’s first game.

van der Flier was also nominated for player of the tournament, along with France number 8 Grégory Aldritt. Both ultimately lost out to France captain Antoine Dupont. The scrum-half previously won the award in 2020 and was named World Rugby player of the year in 2021.

15. Hugo Keenan (Ireland); 14. Damian Penaud (France) 13. Gael Fickou (France) 12. Jonathan Danty (France) 11. Gabin Villiere (France); 10. Romain Ntamack (France) 9. Antoine Dupont (France); 1. Cyril Baille (France) 2. Julien Marchand (France) 3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland); 4. Maro Itoje (France) 5. Paul Willemse (France); 6. Francois Cros (France) 7. Josh van der Flier (Ireland) 8. Gregory Alldrit (France).