O'Connell leads Irish sextet of "all-stars"

Six Nations Team of the Championship: Gerry Thornley selects six Irishmen, four Frenchmen, three Italians,one Scot and one Welshmen, but has no Englishman on his Six Nations team

15 THOMAS CASTAIGNEDE (France) Remarkable return for a player who was supposedly over the hill after being ravaged by injuries. His pace, elusiveness, eye for a gap and broken field running gave France so much of their often absent, if traditional flair, most notably in their win over England.

14 AURELIEN ROUGERIE (France) Back to his best as well, France's Lomu was possibly the most unstoppable winger of the championship, regularly giving France go-forward ball when there wasn't exactly a steady supply of it for them.

13 BRIAN O'DRISCOLL (Ireland) In truth, he's probably had more productive campaigns with the ball in hand but when Ireland had to play off the cuff, as in Paris or the last throes at Twickenham, there's still no finer gamebreaker around and his defending, all-round work-rate and presence were immense.

12 MIRCO BERGAMASCO (Italy) Some of the Italian back play has been brilliant to watch with Pierre Berbizier's conversion of Bergamasco into a centre the highlight. Along with Gonzalo Canale, has been a real star of the tournament, bringing an injection of pace and always looking to make something happen, though Florian Fritz arguably had the greater consistent impact.

11 SHANE HORGAN (Ireland) Oft under-used in truth, but willingly went looking for work and whenever he was involved his contributions were invariably positive. The vibe from the camp is that his enthusiasm, belief and desire were truly infectious, never more so than in Saturday's match-winning coup de grace.

10 STEPHEN JONES (Wales) A non-vintage campaign in this position, Ronan O'Gara and Jones were the exceptions, with the latter providing all-round authority, assured goal-kicking and a running/distributing catalyst for Wales' best rugby amid all the injuries and upheavals.

9 PETER STRINGER (Ireland) Many of the others mixed and matched, with France, England and even Scotland all seemingly unsure of their first choice, while Dwayne Peel's tournament ran aground. But Stringer's passing and running game has developed further, and he was easily the quickest number nine to the breakdown, and the most consistent.

1 SALVATORE PERUGINI (Italy) Andrew Sheridan would possibly be your choice from a composite team to play the All Blacks but he didn't maintain his form of the summer and autumn whereas Perugini was part of a typically strong Italian scrum and hard-working physical pack, whose contributions always seemed to be prominent and have impact.

2 JERRY FLANNERY (Ireland) Brings that Munster doggedness to the equation and a fearless, innate desire to be part of it all. Ireland's excellent lineout was in part down to the accuracy of his darts, while his huge work-rate and ball-carrying (to be improved by not running crossfield as much) made him the find of the tournament.

3 PIETER DE VILLIERS (France) Perhaps past his best and save for the occasional blast from the past, not the destructive scrummager he used to be or even as mobile in the open spaces, but like Raphael Ibanez, he remains a hardy old warrior and a real heavyweight of frontrow play.

4 MARCO BORTOLAMI (Italy) There's a temptation to complete the Irish lineout with the inclusion of Malcolm O'Kelly, and Fabien Pelous still remains a figurehead for France even if past his best, but Bortolami's leadership, aggression and athleticism consistently shone for the Azzurri.

5 PAUL O'CONNELL (Ireland) Gets better with each passing campaign, notably as a lineout operator, and thinking of those ball carries and tackles, the sheer presence and the physicality of his game makes him as much a heartbeat of the Irish team as Brian O'Driscoll in his way.

6 JASON WHITE (Scotland) Hitman of the championship, the Scottish captain defined Scotland's rejuvenation this season by leading from the front, notably with a phenomenal defensive effort, especially in their win over England. To beat Scotland, you must first get past White.

7 YANNICK NYANGA (France) Consistently high standards throughout the tournament. Not a classic openside perhaps, but effective at the breakdown and gave a venerable French team some badly needed dynamism with his lineout skills, tackling, mobility and most of all, his pace.

8 DENIS LEAMY (Ireland) Still needs to develop a more creative handling game if he's to become a frontline number eight but his indefatigable ball-carrying, tackling and eagerness for work always stood out.