The June tours drew to a close this weekend with wins for Ireland, England and Scotland away to three southern hemisphere sides.
As the players prepare for a holiday after a memorable season, it is a final opportunity to look back at the standout performers from the weekend’s action.
For Ireland, there was an historic series victory in Australia thanks to a 20-16 success in Sydney, while England finished their tour of South Africa on a high by beating the Springboks 25-10 in Cape Town.
Earlier on Saturday France pushed New Zealand hard in the first half before going down 49-14, whereas Scotland produced a blistering display to thrash Argentina 44-15 in Resistencia.
So with that in mind, here are some of the players that filled up the stat sheet in the final weekend of international rugby for NatWest 6 Nations teams in 2017/18. COME WHAT MAY For the fifth consecutive Test match, Jonny May scored a try, the first England player to achieve that feat since Will Greenwood, who did so in 2001, including six tries in that year’s Championship.
May’s score, getting onto the end of Danny Cipriani’s clever cross-kick, effectively sealed the win for England, and completed a fine all-round outing for the winger.
England’s top metre-maker with 69, he also beat more defenders than any other NatWest 6 Nations player this weekend, with seven.
That came in part on one mazy run in his own in-goal area where he escaped the clutches of a number of defenders before clearing.
Others to rank high in the defenders beaten were Scottish trio Nick Grigg, Adam Hastings and David Denton, who beat five apiece, as did 2018 NatWest 6 Nations Player of the Championship Jacob Stockdale. Selected most defenders beaten Jonny May (England) – 7 Nick Grigg (Scotland) – 5 Adam Hastings (Scotland) – 5 David Denton (Scotland) – 5 Jacob Stockdale (Ireland) – 5 CURIOUS GEORGE George Horne enjoyed a breakthrough campaign for Glasgow Warriors this season, and he has carried that form onto the international stage.
After making his debut against the USA last time out, Horne grabbed two tries in his second game, to continue his fine strike rate for the campaign.
Horne matched May and France’s Gaël Fickou for the most metres made this weekend, while he also managed a remarkable four clean breaks.
His combination with Hastings appeared to pay off, with the young fly-half getting assists on two of Scotland’s six tries. Selected most metres made George Horne (Scotland) – 69 Jonny May (England) – 69 Gaël Fickou (France) – 69 Jacob Stockdale (Ireland) – 66 Selected most clean breaks George Horne (Scotland) – 4 Stuart Hogg (Scotland) – 4 Adam Hastings (Scotland) – 3 Dougie Fife (Scotland) – 3 Kélian Galletier (France) – 3 CJ STANDS TALL For Ireland, you have to go back to 1979 for a last series win in Australia, but this team under Joe Schmidt have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with.
After their Grand Slam success, sealed at Twickenham in March, Ireland travelled to take on the Wallabies looking to cement their position at No.2 in the world rankings.
Despite losing the first Test in Brisbane, they did just that, with their success in Sydney showing their ability to stand tall when put under immense pressure., while the game also gave two old acquaintances the chance to catch up.
In the No.6 jersey, as opposed to his more familiar spot at No.8, CJ Stander was vital to the cause, scoring the only Irish try.
He also chipped in with 15 tackles, and just one missed, while he and France centre Rémi Lamerat topped the carry charts with 16 apiece. All in all, a huge contribution over 80 minutes from the Munster player. Selected most tackles Jack Conan (Ireland) – 16 made, 1 missed CJ Stander (Ireland) – 15, 1 Maro Itoje (England) – 15, 2 James Ryan (Ireland) – 14, 0 David Denton (Scotland) – 14, 0 Selected top carriers CJ Stander (Ireland) – 16 Rémi Lamerat (France) – 16 Camille Chat (France) – 14 David Denton (Scotland) – 14 Nathan Hughes (England) – 13 Mike Brown (England) – 13
