We’re not too sure about the mathematics but we’ll take their word for it.
It’s been a difficult week so far.
After two very entertaining weekends of Six Nations action, the current two week break is beginning to get a little tiresome and we cannot wait for the tournament to resume a week from now.
The only real positive is that perhaps it offers a time for reflection, a real chance to look back on the opening two rounds in a more detailed way.
Well the geniuses over at The Rugby Net have come up with a formula for identifying the best players in each position and have subsequently come up with a top XV of the opening two rounds.
Of course, there are many best XV’s out there which are either based on opinion or through limited player and team stats.
This methodology goes even further and one of the unique aspects of it is “positional parity” whereby for example, the achievements of an out-half who could kick the majority of points is put at the same level of lets say a tighthead prop who destroys his opposite number in the scrum.
There is a detailed breakdown of their methodology here but we will give you what you want and that is who they believe are the players of the Six Nations thus far, in each position.
Loosehead
Joe Marler (England)
Hooker
Ken Owens (Wales)
Tighthead
Dan Cole (England)
Second Row
Joe Launchbury (England)
Courtney Lawes (England)
Blindside Flanker
CJ Stander (Ireland)
Openside Flanker
Kevin Gourdon (France)
Number Eight
Louis Picamoles (France)
Scrum Half
Conor Murray (Ireland)
Out Half
Paddy Jackson (Ireland)
Wing
Keith Earls (Ireland)
Inside Centre
Owen Farrell (England)
Outside Centre
Jonathan Davies (Wales)
Wing
Liam Williams (Wales)
Full Back
Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
So there you go.
What do you make of that XV?
We don’t know about you but we may make a few changes to our fantasy teams for next week…
