With the Six Nations drawing to a close, there will be much discussion as to potential Lions selections. Who should come into consideration for a place in Warren Gatland's squad to go to New Zealand come summertime? Much of the fun in this discussion comes from chat in pubs without the hindrance of stats and facts - but it's still helpful to look at who performed best from a purely statistical standpoint.
And interestingly, on the Statistical Team Of The Six Nations (compiled by Accenture), Ireland is the country with the most players - ahead of the Six Nations champions, England.
Here is the line-up, with underneath all the Irish players the reasoning given for their selection. Read the full article (and reasoning for all the players' selections) here.
15. Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
14. Keith Earls (Ireland)
With eight clean breaks and three tries, Keith Earls was one of the most potent threats in the Championship, helping Ireland to second place in the table.
Earls beat 13 defenders over the course of the Championship, bettered only by Louis Picamoles and CJ Stander in the Accenture team.
13. Jonathan Davies (Wales)
12. Owen Farrell (England)
11. Simon Zebo (Ireland)
Like wing partner Keith Earls, Simon Zebo was a menace throughout the Championship for Ireland, finishing with eight clean breaks. His 332 metres made in this team place him second only to Louis Picamoles, while Zebo also caught 24 balls in the air, showing his value under the high ball. Add in an 88 percent tackle success rate and it was a strong Championship for the Munster winger.
10. Finn Russell (Scotland)
9. Rhys Webb (Wales)
1. Jack McGrath (Ireland)
Jack McGrath is part of an all-Irish prop pairing and given the way their scrum performed that is little surprise. The Irish won every one of their scrums while McGrath was on the pitch and he was also a rock in defence, missing just one tackle and making 46. He also managed a couple of defenders beaten and a couple of offloads in a strong campaign
2. Ken Owens (Wales)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)
Like prop partner Jack McGrath, Tadhg Furlong gets in on the back of Ireland's powerful scrum, also enjoying a 100 percent success rate on Irish ball.
4. Joe Launchbury (England)
5. Courtney Lawes (England)
6. CJ Stander (Ireland)
In terms of quantity of carries, Ireland's CJ Stander was unrivalled across the RBS 6 Nations with 103 in total, more than 30 ahead of the next highest carrier.
As a result he made 234 metres with ball in hand, while also beating 14 defenders, and he also became the first forward to score a hat-trick in the Championship since France's Michel Crauste in 1962.
