Four Irish picks from the former England and Lions star.
Ireland may have fallen short at the second Grand Slam hurdle, but they are still in the championship hunt. Stuart Barnes was impressed enough with four Ireland stars to include them in his Six Nations XV after round two.
France beat Ireland 30-24 in Paris to emerge from the weekend as the only side left that can still win a Grand Slam. They lead England, who beat Italy, and Ireland in the standings. Wales beat Scotland to show some signs of life to their title defence.
On the latest House of Rugby URC [LISTEN from 1:45 below], former Munster and Ireland John Hayes looked back on the weekend’s action with Greg, Megan and Jason. There was praise for many of the players that ended up making that Stuart Barnes ‘Dream Team’.
Caelan Doris (centre) was included in the Stuart Barnes XV for week two of the Six Nations. (Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile)Ireland forwards get credit from Stuart Barnes
John Hayes and Greg O’Shea highlighted the likes of Tadhg Furlong, Joey Carbery, Antoine Dupont and Darcy Graham as big weekend performers. All four are included in the XV selected by Barnes for Rugby World.
Carbery and Furlong both made the cut for Barnes, while there are spots in his back row for Leinster stars Caelan Doris and Josh van der Flier.
Barnes likened the ‘old-school, battling’ van der Flier to England legend Neil Back, while he was impressed with the shift put in by Doris. He noted:
‘Doris wasn’t running 30 metres for tries as against the All Blacks but he worked incredibly hard to keep Ireland afloat for much of this game. He’ll play prettier games in his career to come but I doubt he’ll leave much more perspiration on the park than he did Saturday night.’
In The Scottish Daily Mail, former Scotland star Andy Nicol also named van der Flier in his ‘Best XV’, along with Tadhg Beirne and winger Mack Hansen.
STUART BARNES’ 6 NATIONS ‘DREAM TEAM’
15. Melvyn Jaminet (France)
14. Darcy Graham (Scotland)
13. Gael Fickou (France)
12. Henry Slade (England)
11. Gabin Villiere (France)
10. Joey Carbery (Ireland)
9. Antoine Dupont (France)
1. Ellis Genge (England)
2. Jamie George (England)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)
4. Paul Willemse (France)
5. Adam Beard (Wales)
6. Caelan Doris (Ireland)
7. Josh van der Flier (Ireland)
8. Gregory Alldritt (France)
