Doubts about his defence, etc...
Jacob Stockdale has been announced as the Player of the 2018 Six Nations, a fitting reward for a remarkable debut campaign. Stockdale torched myriad tryscoring records on the way to a Grand Slam, becoming the first player to score seven tries in a single Six Nations campaign. His strike rate now stands at an outlandish 11 tries in nine Irish Tests.
Stockdale came out on top in a public vote for the Player of the Tournament, securing 32% of the public vote. Conor Murray finished second with 18.2% of the vote, with Johnny Sexton third on 18%. Keith Earls finished fourth with 14.5%, with Italy's Matteo Minozzi (13.2%) and France captain Guilhem Guirado (4.1%) completing the top six.
Stockdale was presented with his award by teammate Iain Henderson at Ulster training today.
He is the first Irish player to win the award since Paul O'Connell in 2015. Tommy Bowe and Brian O'Driscoll (thrice) are the other past Irish winners since 2006.
