Interesting.

Stat kings OPTA have put together their Six Nations Team of the Tournament, based purely on statistics gathered throughout the duration of the five rounds, and it makes for some rather interesting reading.

Only four players from Ireland’s Grand Slam winning team make the cut. Some teams picked by pundits and the media, featuring up to eleven Irishmen.

There’s no room for Johnny Sexton or Keith Earls, both of which were nominated for Six Nations Player of the Championship. France’s Guilhem Guirado and Italy’s Matteo Minozzi were also nominated for that prestigious award, but also fail to make the XV.

Johnny doesn’t make the cut.

OPTA say the selection is:

“based on our unique Index system which awards players points for all their actions in a game.”

Ireland scrumhalf Conor Murray is the number one ranked player based on that criteria. He was involved in six tries for Ireland, as well as completing 93% of his 34 tackles and making 5 clean breaks from 32 carries.