Just four Irish players – Tadhg Furlong, CJ Stander, Conor Murray and Jacob Stockdale – have been named in sports analytics company Opta’s Six Nations team of the tournament.
Opta based their selections on their unique Index system which awards players points for all their actions in a game.
The side is a drastic deviation from the team of the tournament selections from the majority of Irish publications with some outlets placing as many as 10 or more Irish players in their sides.
Interestingly, Six Nations Player of the Championship nominees Johnny Sexton, Keith Earls, Matteo Minozzi and Guilhem Guirado have all been excluded from the side.
However, Opta did name Murray as their player of the tournament and cited that the Ireland scrum-half was involved in six tries for his team and completed 93% of his tackles as well as making five clean breaks from 32 carries.
XV – Here is @OptaJonny's 2018 Six Nations Team of the Tournament, based on our unique Index system which awards players points for all their actions in a game. Selection. pic.twitter.com/3VVIrff9yR
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) March 19, 2018
Opta Team Of The Six Nations:
15. Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
14. Jonny May (England)
13. Huw Jones (Scotland)
12. Hadleigh Parkes (Wales)
11. Jacob Stockdale (Ulster)
10. Tomasso Allan (Italy)
9. Conor Murray (Ireland)
1.Mako Vunipola (England)
2. Stuart McInally (Scotland)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)
4. Jonny Gray (Scotland)
5. Cory Hill (Wales)
6. Sebastian Negri (Italy)
7. Hamish Watson (Scotland)
8. CJ Stander (Ireland)
