Brian O'Driscoll: 8/10
Generally excellent second season. Increasingly confident in his own abilities. By far our best performer.
Gordon D'Arcy: 7.5/10
A promising debut. Easy to forget that this was his first run out in the punditry chair. Grew into the tournament and by the time Scotland came around, was offering genuinely interesting insight and some needed levity to proceedings. Much more at ease when not positioned beside giants.
The hobbits council has reconvened at Twickenham, with @gordonwdarcy pic.twitter.com/451O725Qjm
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) February 27, 2016
Shane Horgan: 7/10
Solid tournament even if he left fans wanting more. Retirements have forced him into the limelight and he has become the focal point of everything his side does. Stand-out performer on a side searching for a new identity, but unclear at the moment whether he's a star to build a team around or a very strong supporting character.
Fancy socks did him no harm.
Brent Pope: 7/10
The old dog for the hard road. No doubt a strange tournament for him with so many of his old teammates off the pitch, but he was a source of calm and experience and no doubt settled nerves for the debutantes around him. An underrated performer.
Conor O'Shea: 6/10
This seems likely to be his last Six Nations in the side for awhile. Reshuffle forced him out of his natural pundit position to the far right of the screen, and brought him right beside the prresenter. Reliable even if his role in the side seemed diminshed in light of one noteable absentee.
Daire O'Brien: 5.5/10
Had been serving his apprenticeship for a long time but seemed to struggle with the step-up in class that comes with the Six Nations. His role is arguably the most difficult and technical position in the side. No one doubts his raw skill set but the Six Nations is a baptism of fire. Pro12 games simply don't provide a similiar test.
George Hook: 5.5/10
He only handed his long list of detractors more ammo this Six Nations. In the papers for all the wrong reasons. Rare to see so many Ireland fans wishing for their own pundit to retire but that's what it's come to.
Subs
Eddie O'Sullivan: 6/10
Did not see enough of him too form a solid opinion, though what we did see featured far too much manspreading.
