{"id":6507,"date":"2015-03-24T08:41:08","date_gmt":"2015-03-24T08:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/?p=6507"},"modified":"2015-03-24T08:41:08","modified_gmt":"2015-03-24T08:41:08","slug":"six-nations-team-of-the-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Nations Team of the Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Now the dust has settled on an enthralling Six Nations Championship, The Cardiffian presents the best XV of tournament (and yes it does include Sam Warburton). Also, vote on your player of the tournament in our poll at the bottom of the page.<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><em>Full back: <\/em>Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) \u2013<\/strong> reliable as ever with the boot, his ferocious tackling means Leigh (pictured) is still a force to be reckoned with and his unerring place-kicking secured a third successive defeat of France.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4115\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4115\" style=\"width: 427px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/DA_LeighHalfpenny.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-4115\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/DA_LeighHalfpenny.jpeg\" alt=\"Leigh Halfpenny trains ahead of Wales's Six Nations opener\" width=\"427\" height=\"320\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4115\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-4115\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/DA_LeighHalfpenny.jpeg\" alt=\"Leigh Halfpenny trains ahead of Wales's Six Nations opener\" width=\"427\" height=\"320\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Leigh Halfpenny trains ahead of Wales&#8217;s Six Nations opener<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\n<strong><em>Wing: <\/em>Yoann Huget (France)<\/strong> \u2013 the winger has attracted his fair share of controversy in the past but his ability to wriggle through a tackle meant he was a danger throughout the tournament.<br \/>\n<strong><em>Outside centre: <\/em>Jonathan Joseph (England)<\/strong> \u2013 arguably the player of the tournament, Bath centre Joseph finished as top try scorer with four and England were lucky that Manu Tuilagi\u2019s injury handed him a start.<br \/>\n<strong><em>Inside centre: <\/em>Robbie Henshaw (Ireland)<\/strong> \u2013 Ireland\u2019s flying centre was also their top tackler and his vital try against England was the deciding score of the tournament.<br \/>\n<strong><em>Wing: <\/em>Jack Nowell (England)<\/strong> \u2013 brought in to replace Jonny May, the winger powered to three tries in three games and played magnificently in their gallant victory over France.<br \/>\n<strong><em>Fly half: <\/em>George Ford (England)<\/strong> \u2013 another young Bath back brought in by coach Stuart Lancaster, the 22-year-old dictates play with his passing and sneaks in the team ahead of Ireland&#8217;s Jonny Sexton.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6517\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6517\" style=\"width: 386px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/15669028327_fd58936457_k.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-6517\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/15669028327_fd58936457_k.jpg\" alt=\"Rhys Webb passed to Dan Biggar, with whom he has created a formidable partnership\" width=\"386\" height=\"282\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6517\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6517\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/15669028327_fd58936457_k.jpg\" alt=\"Rhys Webb passed to Dan Biggar, with whom he has created a formidable partnership\" width=\"386\" height=\"282\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Rhys Webb passes to Dan Biggar, with whom he has formed a formidable partnership<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\n<strong><em>Scrum half: <\/em>Rhys Webb (Wales)<\/strong> \u2013 Wales\u2019s no 9 (pictured)had a fantastic tournament from start to finish, beginning with a try against England and finishing with a masterful performance in Rome.<br \/>\n<strong><em>Loosehead Prop: <\/em>Joe Marler (England)<\/strong> \u2013 brilliant in the loose for England in the absence of Lions\u2019 star Alex Corbisiero, he was the rock on which a solid English scrum was built.<br \/>\n<strong><em>Hooker: <\/em>Scott Baldwin (Wales)<\/strong> \u2013 sensational since replacing Richard Hibbard in Paris when many were questioning Gatland\u2019s decision but justified his selection with three faultless performances.<br \/>\n<strong><em>Tighthead Prop: <\/em>Mike Ross (Ireland)<\/strong> \u2013 the Irish tighthead (pictured) enjoyed a solid tournament and his ferocious, powerful, scrummaging makes him one of the best.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5180\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5180\" style=\"width: 190px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/mike-ross.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-5180\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/mike-ross.jpg\" alt=\"The Irish prop has been superb this spring\" width=\"190\" height=\"293\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5180\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-5180\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/mike-ross.jpg\" alt=\"The Irish prop has been superb this spring\" width=\"190\" height=\"293\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> The Irish prop has been superb this spring<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\n<strong><em>Lock: <\/em>Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)<\/strong> \u2013 how to describe this man? The greatest accolade you can give him is the fact he would get in every XV in world rugby without question.<br \/>\n<strong><em>Lock: <\/em>Paul O\u2019Connell (Ireland)<\/strong> \u2013 the grand old man of Irish rugby had another tournament to remember and was tremendous at the breakdown for the eventual champions.<br \/>\n<strong><em>Blindside flanker: <\/em>Peter O\u2019Mahony (Ireland)<\/strong> \u2013 the undisputed \u201cfind\u201d of the last couple of years, the Munsterman is a street fighting flanker and could be a future Lions captain.<br \/>\n<strong><em>Openside flanker: <\/em>Sam Warburton (Wales)<\/strong> \u2013 who else? The embodiment of Welsh determination against Italy and his calmness and serenity in the high-pressured moments make him a true champion.<br \/>\n<strong><em>No 8: <\/em>Billy Vunipola (England)<\/strong> \u2013 a human battering ram of a man, it is scary to think he is just 22 years old and if he continues on the same trajectory, he could be the world\u2019s best at no 8.<br \/>\n[socialpoll id=&#8221;2260446&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now the dust has settled on an enthralling Six Nations Championship, The Cardiffian presents the best XV of tournament (and yes it does include Sam Warburton). Also, vote on your player of the tournament in our poll at the bottom of the page. Full back: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) \u2013 reliable as ever with the boot, his ferocious tackling means Leigh (pictured) is still a force to be reckoned with and his unerring place-kicking secured a third successive defeat of France. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":6429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,4],"tags":[152,759,1291,1642,180,1644,766,2015,154,671,1799,985,328,74,339,155],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-6507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby","category-sport","tag-italy","tag-alun-wyn-jones","tag-cardiff-2","tag-england","tag-france","tag-ireland","tag-leigh-halfpenny","tag-millennium-stadium","tag-rugby-2","tag-rugby-union","tag-sam-warburton","tag-scotland","tag-six-nations","tag-sport-2","tag-wales","tag-wales-rugby-union"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Six Nations Team of the Tournament - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Six Nations Team of the Tournament - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Now the dust has settled on an enthralling Six Nations Championship, The Cardiffian presents the best XV of tournament (and yes it does include Sam Warburton). Also, vote on your player of the tournament in our poll at the bottom of the page. Full back: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) \u2013 reliable as ever with the boot, his ferocious tackling means Leigh (pictured) is still a force to be reckoned with and his unerring place-kicking secured a third successive defeat of France. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-24T08:41:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cathyduncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cathyduncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cathyduncan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/\",\"name\":\"Six Nations Team of the Tournament - The Cardiffian\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-24T08:41:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/41c76b1e66d8cf6e57cba8550c3772b1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Six Nations Team of the Tournament\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/\",\"name\":\"The Cardiffian\",\"description\":\"Just another JOMEC Sites Network site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/41c76b1e66d8cf6e57cba8550c3772b1\",\"name\":\"cathyduncan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/d4d0895f6e1f7ccb86d04236a870a18b\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cd1b1b63598c25c15d3e0d390366ec2ba1c99865b1a23c34339be8c5c396a81?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cd1b1b63598c25c15d3e0d390366ec2ba1c99865b1a23c34339be8c5c396a81?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cathyduncan\"},\"description\":\"Lecturer, Cardiff University News Journalism MA. Bristolian based in Cardiff but Swansea Til I Die.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.cardiff.ac.uk\/people\/view\/381934-duncan-cathy\",\"https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/in\/cathy-duncan-6b91459\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/cathyduncan\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/author\/cathyduncan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Six Nations Team of the Tournament - The Cardiffian","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Six Nations Team of the Tournament - The Cardiffian","og_description":"Now the dust has settled on an enthralling Six Nations Championship, The Cardiffian presents the best XV of tournament (and yes it does include Sam Warburton). Also, vote on your player of the tournament in our poll at the bottom of the page. Full back: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) \u2013 reliable as ever with the boot, his ferocious tackling means Leigh (pictured) is still a force to be reckoned with and his unerring place-kicking secured a third successive defeat of France. [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/","og_site_name":"The Cardiffian","article_published_time":"2015-03-24T08:41:08+00:00","author":"cathyduncan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cathyduncan","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cathyduncan","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/","name":"Six Nations Team of the Tournament - The Cardiffian","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2015-03-24T08:41:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/41c76b1e66d8cf6e57cba8550c3772b1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/24\/six-nations-team-of-the-tournament\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Six Nations Team of the Tournament"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/","name":"The Cardiffian","description":"Just another JOMEC Sites Network site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/41c76b1e66d8cf6e57cba8550c3772b1","name":"cathyduncan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/d4d0895f6e1f7ccb86d04236a870a18b","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cd1b1b63598c25c15d3e0d390366ec2ba1c99865b1a23c34339be8c5c396a81?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cd1b1b63598c25c15d3e0d390366ec2ba1c99865b1a23c34339be8c5c396a81?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cathyduncan"},"description":"Lecturer, Cardiff University News Journalism MA. Bristolian based in Cardiff but Swansea Til I Die.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.cardiff.ac.uk\/people\/view\/381934-duncan-cathy","https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/in\/cathy-duncan-6b91459","https:\/\/x.com\/cathyduncan"],"url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/author\/cathyduncan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/248"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6507"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}