France captain Guilhem Guirado had another stellar campaign in charge of Les Bleus and has been rewarded with a nomination for the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations Player of the Championship.
The 31-year-old led France in the first four games of the campaign before injury kept him out of the finale in Cardiff.
Vote for the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations Player of the Championship
However across the first four matches, he was an inspirational figure, never more so than during the opening game against Ireland.
In that encounter he made 31 tackles – equalling the Championship record held by Luke Charteris – although France fell just short because of Johnny Sexton’s last-gasp drop goal.
He continued to lead from the front as France bounced back from defeat in Scotland with a morale-boosting success against Italy in Marseille – just down the road from club side Toulon.
And his final appearance came against England at the Stade de France as Les Bleus won Le Crunch 22-16, with Guirado’s break from a lineout setting up the only French try in the second half, while he continued to rack up the tackles, finishing with 69 in all.
While a knee injury denied him a chance of featuring against Wales, Guirado remains Jacques Brunel’s right-hand man, with the pair having first worked together when the hooker was coming through the ranks at Perpignan.
