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Stephen Jones Had Some Crazy Irish Omissions In His Six Nations Team Of The Tournament

Stephen Jones Had Some Crazy Irish Omissions In His Six Nations Team Of The Tournament
Gary Connaughton
By Gary Connaughton
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There is no doubt that Ireland were deserving of their Grand Slam triumph in this year's Six Nations.

They were far and away the best team in the tournament. Andy Farrell's side produced dominant victories in every single game they played. It was telling that a bonus point win at home against England in the final round was probably their worst display of the championship.

On an individual level, the Ireland squad was not short on top class performers in recent weeks. The likes of Mack Hansen, Caolan Doris, and Garry Ringrose were all dubbed as potential players of the tournament at one stage or another, and that is mentioning only a portion of those who played at a very high level across the five rounds.

When it comes to putting together a team of the tournament, there is no doubt that Ireland should dominate the selection. You'd imagine that they would make up half of the XV, or at least be the most well-represented side.

However, it seems that not everyone would agree with that assessment.

Stephen Jones names mad Six Nations Team of the Tournament

Stephen Jones is someone who has become known for his bizarre rugby opinions over the last number of years, with the Welsh journalist seeming to have a particular problem with Ireland.

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Some of his takes in relation to this nation have not gone down well in the past, with this the latest of the bunch.

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As is tradition The Times asked their rugby reporters to submit a Six Nations Team of the Tournament at the end of the championship, and while you would expect Irish players to dominate, Jones seemingly saw it differently.

He would select just five Irish players in the side, two less than runner-ups France were given. Here was his team in full:

15. T Ramos (Fra), 14 D Penaud (Fra), 13 H Jones (Sco), 12 J Danty (Fra), 11 J Lowe (Ire), 10 F Russell (Sco), 9 A Dupont (Fra), 8 G Alldritt (Fra), 7 J van der Flier (Ire), 6 L Cannone (Ita), 5 J Ryan (Ire), 4 T Flament (Fra), 3 T Furlong (Ire), 2 D Sheehan (Ire), 1 C Baille (Fra).

This is not to say that any of the player included above are not top quality performers, but it is beggar's belief that some Irish stars did not make the cut.

Mack Hansen is a certainty in an team of the tournament, while leaving Hugo Keenan out at fullback is also a rather odd call. Caolan Doris is an even more astonishing omission and excluding Andrew Porter is a strange one going by his form over the last few weeks.

It must also be said that Tadhg Furlong is strange inclusion considering he played in only two matches and was not at his best against England.

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In all, there is no way that France should have more players than Ireland in the side. Not only did they finish ahead of the French in the table, but they also beat them by a double-digit margin without some of their key players when they met in Dublin last month.

You'd certainly have to wonder how he could justify some of those choices.

SEE ALSO: Brian O'Driscoll Wasn't Buying Clive Woodward's Nonsense Over Freddie Steward Red Card

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