Three Irish players selected in Six Nations team of the tournament

2022 Guinness Six Nations Championship Round 5, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 19/3/2022 Ireland vs Scotland Ireland's Tadhg Furlong celebrates with Caelan Doris Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady

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. Les Bleus won the tournament for the first time since 2010 and did it in style by winning the Grand Slam.

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 arguably the highlight. The Leinster full back was rock solid under the high ball while also carrying a threat in attack.

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 France 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.

The Toulouse scrum-half became only the third player after former Ireland centre Brian O’Driscoll and current Scotland captain Hogg to win the individual award more than once.

The Six Nations Player of the Championship was also selected by public vote, with Dupont picking up almost 50% of the vote.

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 (England), 5. Paul Willemse (France); 6. Francois Cros (France), 7. Josh van der Flier (Ireland), 8. Gregory Alldrit (France).