Six Nations Countdown: The Championship's finest fifteens

The countdown to the 2023 Six Nations Championship continues. With 15 days to go, we take a look at some of the most celebrated fullbacks to have graced the tournament with their abilities.

Leigh Halfpenny (Wales):

No full-back has scored more points in the Championship than the Scarlets man, and in 2013 he was named Player of the Championship for his role in helping Wales to the title.

No full-back has scored more points in the Championship since 2000 than Leigh Halfpenny. 

A prodigious goal-kicker, Halfpenny’s ability to keep the scoreboard ticking over from virtually anywhere in the opposition half has been a crucial part of Wales’ success under Gatland.

His ability under the high ball is up there with any of his peers, while his ability to cover the backfield was crucial to Shaun Edwards’ defensive game plan.

Stuart Hogg (Scotland):

Only two men have won the Player of the Championship award on more than one occasion. Ireland great Brian O’Driscoll did it three times in four years between 2006 and 2009. The other is Stuart Hogg, who was recognised in successive years for his performances for Scotland in 2016 and 2017.

Hogg has made the second most Championship appearances at full-back over the past two decades, in addition to a debut off the bench against Wales.

In that time he has established himself as one of the most dangerous counter-attacking threats of his generation and he is second only to the great Ian Smith in the 1920s and 1930s for Championship tries for Scotland with 12.

Rob Kearney (Ireland):

His Championship debut came against Wales in 2008, and the following year he started every game as Ireland won their first Grand Slam in 61 years. In all he has played 43 games at full-back in the Championship, starting 42 of them, over the course of more than a decade.

Coming from a Gaelic football background, Kearney is best known for his ability under the high ball and has been a fixture in the Ireland team under both Declan Kidney and Joe Schmidt.

With the exception of the 2011 Championship, he has featured in every edition since 2008, winning his second Grand Slam in 2018, in addition to further titles.

Clément Poitrenaud (France)

Clément Poitrenaud is perhaps the iconic French full-back of the era, and the man who wore the jersey in France’s last Grand Slam in 2010. His Test debut came at just 19, with a try-scoring Championship bow against England two years later in 2003.

While he was not always first choice over more than a decade on the international scene, few could match his ability to produce magic from nowhere.

His standout moment came in 2010 when he played all but 19 minutes of France’s Grand Slam campaign, delivering the decisive blow in the round four win over Ireland.

Jason Robinson (England):

One of, if not the greatest rugby league convert of recent times, Robinson was the X-factor in the all-conquering England teams of the early 2000s. By the time he made his first Championship start at full-back, he had already been on a Lions Tour to Australia, such was the immediacy of the impression he made.

That first match in the No.15 shirt was a revelation, a two-try effort in victory over Scotland. Two rounds later he finished on the losing side in Paris, but not before producing one of the most devastating sidesteps on the way to the try-line.

A Championship winner in 2001 and 2003, the latter being a Grand Slam, he went on to score the only England try in their World Cup final victory later that year.

Billy Whizz later captained England and remains one of the most iconic members of Sir Clive Woodward’s side.