The 2014 edition of The Rugby Championship was one of the most memorable in recent history, at least since the inclusion of Argentina. It saw a maiden victory for the Pumas after several near-misses, the All Blacks winning yet again despite being run close and some thrillers involving all of the sides.

Using its own index (see below), Opta reveals its Team of the Tournament, picked from players who made at least four appearances.

1 - James Slipper

Despite the Wallabies' scrum troubles, Slipper's workrate earns him a place in the side. He made at least 30 more ball carries (52) than any other prop forward. Slipper is the first of two Australian props in the side. He averaged 63 minutes per game while colleague Sekope Kepu averaged 66. In the first hour of matches in the tournament, the Wallabies managed an 80% scrum success rate compared to just 64% in the last quarter.

2 - Agustin Creevy

Took 71 lineout throws in total, nobody else managed more than 50. He completed 39 of 42 tackles (93%) and made the fourth-most carries in the tournament (63).

3 - Sekope Kepu

Made more tackles (47) than any other prop forward.

Sekope Kepu was a tackling machine in the Rugby Championship © Getty Images

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4 - Victor Matfield

Matfield averaged more tackles (14) and lineouts won (5.8) per game than any other player to make four appearances.

5 - Brodie Retallick

Completed 44 out of 46 tackles in his 364 minutes of action and beat more defenders (5) than any other lock in the competition.

6 - Marcell Coetzee

Managed two tries and seven defenders beaten in attack, but also excelled in defence. He made the second most successful tackles in the whole tournament (76/80) and had a better success rate (95%) than any of the other men amongst the top 10 for hits.

Kieran Read underlined his lineout abilities in the Rugby Championship © Getty Images

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7 - Michael Hooper

Ranked third for tackles (73) and fourth for turnovers won (7) in the tournament, as well as joint-second for tries (3). His 13 defenders beaten was also the best figure from any forward.

8 - Kieran Read

Read produced more lineout catches (27) than any other player and ranked amongst the top five tacklers in total. He also came up with the joint-most try assists (3) and joint-most offloads (13) in the tournament.

9 - Francois Hougaard

In 209 minutes of action Hougaard managed one try and two try assists, making more metres (120) than any other player in his position.

10 - Handre Pollard

Among the top five goal-kickers (for total goals kicked), the rookie maintained the best success rate (12/15 - 80%). Pollard also scored two tries, assisted another and managed 14 defenders beaten in 300 minutes of action.

Fly-half Handre Pollard was a standout performer for the Springboks © Getty Images

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11 - Julian Savea

The tournament's top metre-maker (597) and try-scorer (4) also made the most clean breaks (14), ranked second for defenders beaten (23) and third for offloads (12).

12 - Malakai Fekitoa

Made more offloads (6) and was equal top for the most clean breaks (5) of any centre in the competition.

13 - Jan Serfontein

In four appearances the centre managed two try assists. He was the top tackling back of the tournament and ranked seventh overall for total hits, despite missing two matches.

14 - Ben Smith

Ranked second for clean breaks (9) and third for defenders beaten (18) in this year's edition. He also scored two tries and set up another.

15 - Israel Folau

The tournament's second highest metre-maker (498) and ball carrier (69) managed more defenders beaten (27) than anybody else as well as ranking equal 1st for offloads (13).

How the Opta Index works

The Opta Index allows genuine opportunities to compare and contrast both player and team strengths and weaknesses across top flight rugby, providing real insights as follows:

After every match Opta completes a video analysis of every touch of the ball in Rugby Championship matches. Each action in the match is awarded a points value depending on the relative importance of the action.

For example, a try scores more points than a tackle but a player loses points for a missed tackle. The points are then weighted against the score at the time when the action took place (higher points if the score is closer), the time in the match (higher points at the start of the match) and the position on the pitch where it took place (higher points for actions closer to the goal line).

The player is then given a score for the match by adding up all his actions while he was on the field.