Six Nations 2015: Winners and Losers

WINNERS

Les Kiss
Ireland
Ireland conceded just three tries in five games this Six Nations, a quite astonishing stat. It was their defence that won them the title, and though they might not have been as adventurous or daring in attack as England, their ability to hold their opponents at bay means their points difference ended up superior to everyone else’s. Kiss is listed as an assistant coach on the Ireland rugby website, but his speciality has always been defence and he must take a large slice of credit for their watertight defence.

Ben Youngs
England
This time last year, Danny Care looked to have the England scrum-half jersey locked down – indeed, Youngs wasn’t even making the matchday squad. A combination of Care’s loss of form and Youngs roaring back to his best means the two scrum-halves’ fortunes have completely reversed. The Leicester man has rediscovered his eye for a gap and, particularly in the final two games of the tournament, has been terrorising fringe defences. His box-kicking remains sound.

Scott Baldwin
Wales
A short while ago, it would have seemed highly improbable that Richard Hibbard wouldn’t be in the starting Wales hooker shirt if fit. But Scott Baldwin has shot to prominance this Championship, after incumbent Hibbard failed to impress in the earlier rounds. The Ospreys hooker is a ball of energy on the pitch, and really hit the heights in the victory over Ireland, a game in which he made 20 tackles in just 56 minutes.

Conor Murray & Johnny Sexton
Ireland
If we didn’t know it already, these two confirmed their status as one of the best half-back pairings in World Rugby during this championship. The accuracy they portrayed in both kicking and running games early on the tournament meant their opposition was often left without a chance, and while it wasn’t necessarily pretty, you had to admire them both for their unrelenting consistency. The Wales game was a bit of a stumbling block – neither played that well – but it came good against Scotland again, when Murray and Sexton definitively proved there was more to their game than kicking.

Jonathan Joseph
England
Probably the biggest winner of the tournament. His daring dashes through every defence except Ireland made him the most potent attacking player in the tournament, and he has significantly eased one half of England’s selection worries in the midfield. Manu Tuilagi has so struggled with injuries that it seems unlikely he’ll be fit for the entirety of the World Cup, but it is a huge relief to know that England have someone just as dangerous, albeit in different ways, in the 13 jersey.

Warren Gatland & Joe Schmidt
Wales/Ireland
Two thirds of the Kiwi coaches in the competition added weight to the argument that New Zealand definitely does produce the best coaches around. Gatland did well to turn his Wales team around after that opening loss to England, proving that, no matter what the doubters say, there is still hope for Warrenball yet. As for Schmidt, his attention to detail and ability to draw the very best from all of his players, resulting in the team playing as greater than the sum of its parts, is the antithesis to what Philippe Saint-André seems to be doing with France.

LOSERS

Camille Lopez
France
During the autumn, Lopez looked like he had solved the long-standing French problem at fly-half. Here was a confident goal-kicker and playmaker who might finally break the mould of passive fly-halves and dominant scrum-halves in French rugby. But this Six Nations he has badly regressed, with more than one off-day with the boot and a general sense that he failed to get the best out of the immensely talented backs outside of him. He still looks the best option France have, but there’s no doubt he’s taken a step back this tournament.

Philippe Saint-André
France
Things got so bad for the France coach that he took things out on his own players in the press. He then dropped half of them for the last two games of the tournament. This is not the mark of a World Cup contender, just six months out from the tournament proper. He restored some face with a gallant loss to England (former coaches have remarked that fans would rather lose playing attractive rugby, than win ugly) but really his tenure as France coach can’t come to an end quickly enough.

Kelly Haimona
Italy
Surely, when Italy joined the Six Nations in 2000, the plan was not to have a 28 year old journeyman from Rotorua in the fly-half jersey 15 years later? If this is the best playmaker that Italy can find, then frankly the experiment has failed. His goal-kicking was dreadful and meant Italy always struggled to get a foothold in games, and he is far too bulky to be a real threat to international defences. Tommaso Allan seems a much livelier option, but for some reason was only trusted with one start – before which he got injured in the warm-up.

Luther Burrell
England
This time last year, he was the toast of the England midfield after a breakthrough campaign in the 13 shirt, some even speculating that Tuilagi wouldn’t get his shirt back (similar to the Joseph situation now). He has had a thoroughly average campaign at 12 in 2015, however, looking comfortably the most one-dimensional of the English backs and, to be honest, a little on the slow side at times. Inside centre remains a great dilemma for England.

Vern Cotter
Scotland
This is perhaps a bit harsh, because Scotland are certainly in a better place than they were under the hapless Scott Johnson this time last year. And yet the fact remains that they have picked up another wooden spoon, and worse than that, they failed to win a single game. The feel good factor that surrounded the team after the Autumn series has dissipated, and the creeping suspicion that Scotland just don’t know how to close out tight games is arguably stronger than ever. It has been exacerbated by the fact that they are playing better rugby and therefore creating more chances – only to butcher them. They desperately need to learn how to be more ruthless before the Rugby World Cup comes around.

By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images