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'That will put him in a really strong position for the Lions': Hamish Watson named Six Nations player of the tournament

By PA
(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Hamish Watson could not have done any more to nail down a British and Irish Lions slot after being named the Guinness Six Nations player of the tournament, according to his Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill. Wayne Pivac led Wales to this year’s championship but it is the Scotland flanker who has been named the tournament’s top performer following a public vote.

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The Dark Blues’ scavenger-in-chief beat off competition from Welsh title-winning pair Louis Rees-Zammit and Taulupe Faletau to land the prize, with Ireland duo Tadhg Beirne and Robbie Henshaw plus France’s star scrum-half and last year’s player of the tournament Antoine Dupont also among those in the running.

Watson becomes the second Scot to win the award following Stuart Hogg’s back-to-back successes in 2016 and 2017. The Scotland ace was imperious as Gregor Townsend’s team bookended their campaign with historic wins in London and Paris – their first wins away to England and Les Bleus since 1983 and 1999 respectively.

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Watson was also named man of the match after scoring his fifth Test try in a record-breaking Six Nations win against Italy at Murrayfield. While defeats at home to Wales and Ireland were a bitter blow, Cockerill believes the 29-year-old can hold his head high after performing impressively throughout the tournament.

He believes Watson is now a firm favourite to make Warren Gatland’s cut ahead of the Lions’ tour of South Africa. “He has been the standout for Scotland,” said the Edinburgh coach. “He has been consistently good. He hasn’t just played one game then had an average game the next.

“He has probably been Scotland’s best player the whole way through, so when I saw him nominated it didn’t then come as a huge surprise that he won the award as he has been very, very good in every single game he has played. We are delighted for him. We have got the player of the tournament for the Six Nations playing for Edinburgh, which is a credit to him and to the club. Hopefully, that will put him in a really strong position for the Lions tour coming up in the summer.

“He has put himself in a very strong position to be part of that selection conversation. He is probably in one of the strongest positions that the Lions can pick from so he cannot have done any more to put himself in the selection picture.

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“No one would be surprised if he gets selected for the Lions. However, there are some other very good players from the other countries. But he could not have done any more than what he has, so let’s keep our fingers crossed that an opportunity comes along.”

Watson was an all-action performer in the back-row, missing just 14 minutes over the course of five matches. He carried 67 times for 321 metres and successfully made every single tackle of his 55 in defence.

The Scotland ace, who secured 35 per cent of the vote to take the award, said: “I’m very surprised, obviously loads of top players were up for the award. When you do win something like that, it’s full credit to the team I’m in as well and to all of the guys who have won it previously.

“It shows what good teams you are playing for. The Scotland team we’re all playing in at the moment is a great team and we really believe we can achieve things in the next few years. We think we’re heading in the right direction and full credit to the whole team because, without them, boys can’t win these personal accolades.”

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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