RBS 6 Nations Player of The Championship

[Jackass]

Shortlist announced:

Delon Armitage (England)
Lee Byrne (Wales)
Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland)
Paul O'Connell (Ireland)
Sergio Parisse (Italy)

For me, it's got to be Brian O'Driscoll. Brilliant against France, a beautiful individual break and try, Italy a lovely intercept to run the length of the pitch, England showed great leadership and determination to get in there and dirty to finish off the try when forwards were bashing around the line. Also showed great class and leadership slotting the 3 points when ROGs boot was failing. Scotland he covered a ridiculos amount of ground in a ridiculosly short space of time in reading the danger to snuff out a Scotland attack before half time after Bowe put in a tackle and BOD came back to cover the overlap and bundle him into touch. Also puting great pressure from the chase to force a scottish error leading up to the Irish try. More than once in this championship he has been the difference between victory and failure.

All of that on top of his superb support play, breaks, bull work in the middle of the field, amazing defence, turn-overs and making it a nightmare for the opposition.

For me, this has been one of the most amazing and all around seasons for BOD. He hasn't just shown his class as an amazing runner with the ball, he's shown the best imaginable defence in midfield, the greatest leadership as captain, the amazing spoiling work and turnovers he forces, he's as dangerous without the ball as he is with it for putting points on the board. Any player isolated around him will either lose the ball or give away a penalty.

For all the world class player he always has, this in my opinion has been his best season ever - as an all around, complete player, there's no one like him - and all this after the taunts of "He's lost it" - for me, has earned him player of the tournament.

Hope you agree! Have your say anyway.

You can vote here:
http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/fanspoll.php

Kinetic^

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

BOD, no contest.

corny

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Wouldn't say no contest. POC has been more than amazing but i'd go for BOD too.

youcrazyjesus!

BOD has been immense. His defense is out of this world.
BOD by a mile.

anonymous_joe

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

O'Driscoll.

Though Parisse too has been immense once again.

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Add a poll Jackass

[Jackass]

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Deleted User wrote: »

Add a poll Jackass

Don't think it will let me now.

Unless one of the mods wants to add it in for me?

But follow this link: http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/fanspoll.php

And you can vote for your player there also to decide who wins it.

[EDIT] Was figured out for me Thanks Mr.Applepie

Daysha

It has to be O'Driscoll.

stephen_n

To be honest I don't know. BOD has been class for Ireland but so has POC and it really would be hard to choose between them. Delon Armitage not sure why his name is on there and Lee Byrne is an amazing player but don't think he has done much in this championship but Parisse is outstanding and really could be in the running especially considering the country he plays for also IMO Harinordoquy has been incredible for France in their last two matches true a truely world class number 8

twinytwo

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Is there any doubt he will get it... if he keeps playing the way he his for the lions and for the rest fo the season... player of the year anyone???

Serenity Now!

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

I thought Harinordiquoy should have been in contention. He has been feckin amazing this 6N.

jam_on_toast

Ferris would have my vote so far if he was listed. Also, why is there a list before the tournament is finished?

Noffles

Shanklin?

Stev_o

Parisse bar none, the fact is that every other player listed has had the luxury of playing a in team that at some point went forward and was on the upper hand. Parisse didn't have that luxury yet still managed to carry Italy on his back and keep them competitive. More then any other player on that list if you took him away from his team they'd fall harder then anyone else.

Dempsey

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Stev_o wrote: »

Parisse bar none, the fact is that every other player listed has had the luxury of playing a in team that at some point went forward and was on the upper hand. Parisse didn't have that luxury yet still managed to carry Italy on his back and keep them competitive. More then any other player on that list if you took him away from his team they'd fall harder then anyone else.

Considering that Italy are the worst team in the championship, it makes what he's done more impressive but O'Driscoll has been world class for us and we wouldnt have won all our games so far without him. Call me biast!! :pac:

funky penguin

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Biast! BOD all the way!

Aidric

I'd plump for O Connell over O Driscoll, both have been outstanding but O Driscoll stands out for people because of the tries he's scored. I think O Connell edges it for pure work rate and carries.

carlop

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

It has to be BOD, he's been sensational. Honourable mention to Harinordoquy though and to Parisse as ever. Parisse almost has a negative effect on Italy in the sense that no one else will ever gain any experience of carrying the ball at Test level:pac:

Aidric

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Aidric wrote: »

I'd plump for O Connell over O Driscoll, both have been outstanding but O Driscoll stands out for people because of the tries he's scored. I think O Connell edges it for pure work rate and carries.

Or the last ditch tackle he made last week that saved us defeat.

acalmenvoy

Sergio Parisse (Italy)

Have gone for POC, purely thru local bias, but BOD has been imense this year.

Leslie91

Sergio Parisse (Italy)

I've gone for Paulie, with BOD a v v close 2nd.

Armitage is well overrated. He should not be on the list.

Parrisse (immense), Heaslip and to a lesser extent Byrne are all v worthy.

Eoin

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Aidric wrote: »

I'd plump for O Connell over O Driscoll, both have been outstanding but O Driscoll stands out for people because of the tries he's scored. I think O Connell edges it for pure work rate and carries.

Yes, but the truth is that even if he hadn't scored one try, his work rate should still make him a contender.

rav1410

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

BOD and POC have been amazing.

I would go with BOD though

MikeHoncho

Sergio Parisse (Italy)

They all deserve to be on that list. Im a big fan of Parisse and think he should have got World Player of the year last season but I just cant see how anyone could vote anything other than POC or BOD. Very tough to choose between them. Purely on a Leinster bias I should choose BOD but im actually gonna give POC the nod. What he does isnt as pretty but its just as improtant.

NickNolte

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

BOD by a country mile. Some glaring ommissions are Harinordoquy and Ferris but I suppose you can't include everyone!

Erin Go Brath

Sergio Parisse (Italy)

Hard to pick between the 2 living legends that are BOD and POC. BOD has been excellent for the campaign. He's back to his best but its POC for me. POCs complete domination at the lineout has set the platform for a lot of what has been good from this Irish team. To put it another way we would feel POCs loss more than BODs if both were absent, as he would be harder to replace, and plays in arguably a more important position on the team.

[Jackass]

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Erin Go Brath wrote: »

Hard to pick between the 2 living legends that are BOD and POC. BOD has been excellent for the campaign. He's back to his best but its POC for me. POCs complete domination at the lineout has set the platform for a lot of what has been good from this Irish team. To put it another way we would feel POCs loss more than BODs if both were absent, as he would be harder to replace, and plays in arguably a more important position on the team.

:eek:

Was it TV3 last night? RTE? Was it some show on Setanta? I wish I could recall, but I was watching more or less a recap on the Irish performance on (i think) the news a night or two ago and one of the factors put in for Irelands sucsess was defence - it said Ireland were displaying ferocious and disciplined defence, giving away the fewest penalties in the competition - while the narration was going on, it showed about 5 Irish defensive moves - 3 of them of players getting absolutely creamed at pace and massive hits, 1 of player being swallowed up and bundled off the pitch, the other of the tackler making the tackle getting back to his feet and winning a penalty for Ireland as the opposition held on. For this piece of Irelands amazing defence every single one of the examples was Brian O'Driscoll. Couple that with his individual try against France giving us the momentum to nudge away from them, his match winning captains performance against England taking all the responsability and putting away the scores, his try saving tackle against Scotland that may have saved us from defeat, his individual intercept try against Italy that means Wales must beat us by 2 scores on Saturday rather than a converted try - you could have a Lions squad and BOD would be the most difficult player to replace.

If he continues this form, for Leinster & Lions after the 6 nations, mark my words, he will be IRB World Player of the Year. He's already done enough to earn his 3rd nomination this season.

O'Connell has been extremely good, aggressive and has made great carries and has put in lots of hard work, but let's not overstate the fact here - I don't think he has been the difference between victory or defeat on his own in any of the games, BOD most certainly has, in more than one game.

I hate to say a player is the "best in the world" because how can you compare a centre to a prop or a wing to a flanker...it's not possible and different positions are bound to have more of an outcome on the game than others e.g. prop vs outhalf.

But at the moment, I would put it out there and say that BOD is most certainly the best centre in the world right now and is on absolute fire. He is the MVP of the Irish team and if he plays like this, captain or not, he will be the MVP of the Lions again.

Serenity Now!

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Who cares? Player of the tournament? Whoopdy-doo. Team of the bloody thing we should be wanting as its probably the only thing the posters on this board would ever agree on! :cool:

KevinK

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

BOD>POC>Parisse>Heaslip>Byrne>Armitage.

Nukem

I had Heaslip in mind and then clicked Parisse. In fairness the guy has been awesome, he is surrounded by muppets all around him majoprity of the time and he seems to be everywhere

phatkev

Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland)

think id have to go with heaslip

Micky Dolenz

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Carmen Screeching Eyeglass wrote: »

Or the last ditch tackle he made last week that saved us defeat.

. It will never be known if it saved us defeat, it did however save a try being scored against us.

I have been a big fan of BOD since I first saw him play. A real class act. his defending impresses me the most.

he gets my vote.

Spore

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Anyone else think Hardinordiquy has been completely robbed? Not even getting a nomination when he'll probably be up for player of the year? Eh? Like what's up with that?

Stev_o

Spore wrote: »

Anyone else think Hardinordiquy has been completely robbed? Not even getting a nomination when he'll probably be up for player of the year? Eh? Like what's up with that?

He played one good game doesn't add up to being the player of the championship.

nouveau_4.0

20% of the tournament left to play. I'll vote after this weekend.

stephen_n

Stev_o wrote: »

He played one good game doesn't add up to being the player of the championship.

Which game are you refering to? because he was the only french player to perform against Engerland and was absolutely world class against Wales

Serenity Now!

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Stev_o wrote: »

He played one good game doesn't add up to being the player of the championship.

He has played extremely well every game France have played. Even against England.

Erin Go Brath

Sergio Parisse (Italy)

[Jackass] wrote: »

:eek:

Was it TV3 last night? RTE? Was it some show on Setanta? I wish I could recall, but I was watching more or less a recap on the Irish performance on (i think) the news a night or two ago and one of the factors put in for Irelands sucsess was defence - it said Ireland were displaying ferocious and disciplined defence, giving away the fewest penalties in the competition - while the narration was going on, it showed about 5 Irish defensive moves - 3 of them of players getting absolutely creamed at pace and massive hits, 1 of player being swallowed up and bundled off the pitch, the other of the tackler making the tackle getting back to his feet and winning a penalty for Ireland as the opposition held on. For this piece of Irelands amazing defence every single one of the examples was Brian O'Driscoll. Couple that with his individual try against France giving us the momentum to nudge away from them, his match winning captains performance against England taking all the responsability and putting away the scores, his try saving tackle against Scotland that may have saved us from defeat, his individual intercept try against Italy that means Wales must beat us by 2 scores on Saturday rather than a converted try - you could have a Lions squad and BOD would be the most difficult player to replace.

If he continues this form, for Leinster & Lions after the 6 nations, mark my words, he will be IRB World Player of the Year. He's already done enough to earn his 3rd nomination this season.

O'Connell has been extremely good, aggressive and has made great carries and has put in lots of hard work, but let's not overstate the fact here - I don't think he has been the difference between victory or defeat on his own in any of the games, BOD most certainly has, in more than one game.

I hate to say a player is the "best in the world" because how can you compare a centre to a prop or a wing to a flanker...it's not possible and different positions are bound to have more of an outcome on the game than others e.g. prop vs outhalf.

But at the moment, I would put it out there and say that BOD is most certainly the best centre in the world right now and is on absolute fire. He is the MVP of the Irish team and if he plays like this, captain or not, he will be the MVP of the Lions again.

I couldn't disagree with that! I couldn't argue against BOD, nor would i want to. He's been terrific this campaign, and deserves the accolade if it comes his way in fairness. Certainly i wouldn't begrudge the man.

I'm just a huge Paul O Connell fan, and am sometimes incapable of taking off my Paul O Connell tinted glasses. Either way we should just be greatful to have both these iconic stars on our team than be totting up whos the most value to the team. *Clearly O'Connell*

puntosporting

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Paul O'Connell is my Hero Literaly HA HA!
But i got to give credit where its due Brian O'Driscol has been world class,just exceptional this tournament and is miles ahead for me followed of course byt the maniac Ginger !

Stev_o

stephen_n wrote: »

Which game are you refering to? because he was the only french player to perform against Engerland and was absolutely world class against Wales

He played his best game against Wales, started fine against us and faded away. He was completely useless against the Phoms and didn't have any presence, if he was a player of that magnitude he would of taken responsibility from Nallet and got the guys in order which he didn't. Against Scotland he was completely absent.

Stick_man

Sergio Parisse (Italy)

BOD has has a fine tournament, defensively he has been immense and it never ceases to amaze just how many times he puts his body on the line for the cause but Paul O Connell has been Irelands top performer in this Six nations. He has regined supreme in the lineout, has constantly carried good ball and his tackle count has been astonishing. Take the England game BOD was named man of the match but it was O Connell who broke england, phase after phase he is there at the coalface. BOD has the advantage of the box-office moments but O Connell has been the fulcrum.

Stev_o

Parisse again showing today that he truly is the best player in the world.

anonymous_joe

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Stev_o wrote: »

Parisse again showing today that he truly is the best player in the world.

He's not. He's definitely in the top 3 8's in the world though. Kankowski and Spies are both probably better. He'd get into any team other than the Saffers or maybe New Zealand though.

Stev_o

anonymous_joe wrote: »

He's not. He's definitely in the top 3 8's in the world though. Kankowski and Spies are both probably better. He'd get into any team other than the Saffers or maybe New Zealand though.

Both have shown nothing in the international scene especially the first since he hasn't started a handle full of games for SA, Spies while a true freak of nature he hasn't got alot of international games under his belt and plus he's playing in a team where front forward ball is the norm and thus doesn't need to worry getting down and dirty. New Zealand would start Parisse no bother do you really think that Kaino and Rodney would be ahead of him? I don't.

Sanjuro

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Has to be Brian O'Driscoll. Not just for his ability as a player but for leading by example. No matter how many knocks he takes, he gets back on his feet and gets stuck right back in. Exactly how a captain should lead.

Throw in a cudos for Rob Kearney too. Great play this championship.

conf101

I think it'd be hard to deny the award to O'Driscoll. In each match when an important try was needed he stepped up to the plate, when an important tackle was needed he was there and when inspiration was needed he answered the call. I think he'll get it and he fully deserves it!!!!

banshee_bones

Sergio Parisse (Italy)

Paul O' Connell played a blinder today but as far as the 6 nations go its BOD with out a doubt.

ch2008

I thought so too before today. Last 5 minsmade two awful mistakes and failed to floor S Jones twice when the outhalf caught his garryowens. On one occassion he pushed him, odd. Lucked very disappointed coming off. Great for the other games though

Stick_man

Sergio Parisse (Italy)

conf101 wrote: »

I think it'd be hard to deny the award to O'Driscoll. In each match when an important try was needed he stepped up to the plate, when an important tackle was needed he was there and when inspiration was needed he answered the call. I think he'll get it and he fully deserves it!!!!

Its hard to argue with him and he will get it, but O Connell has been the player of the tornament by some distance, his first half performance today was astounding I think he has been nothing short of heroic in this championship and is the only man to lead the lions. That being said I am proud of BOD today. But O Connell has been our totem.

shamblertine

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Stick_man wrote: »

Its hard to argue with him and he will get it, but O Connell has been the player of the tornament by some distance, his first half performance today was astounding I think he has been nothing short of heroic in this championship and is the only man to lead the lions. That being said I am proud of BOD today. But O Connell has been our totem.

lol, it astounds me people are trying to claim its anyone but BOD, BOD has been the best by quite some distance, getting the all important tries and crucial tackles. Yes Paul was great at winning the line outs today but to claim he is player of the tournament ahead of BOD is just laugable, you must be Pauls nan or something.

Crash Bang Wall

Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

Drico will get it especially after todays efforts, but Parisse also deserves something. He was awesome for Italy and deserves some sort of recognition. In my opinion Heaslip isnt in his league