Six Nations
Six Nations Player of the Week: Billy Vunipola storms the vote
ESPN Staff
February 9, 2016
Players of the weekend

Tom May picked out some of his top performers (in the video above), rugby writers who covered the games made their selections, and readers from all over the world gave their verdicts on the stars of the opening Six Nations weekend. ESPN reveals below how they fared in the Player of the Week poll for the weekend of Feb. 6-7:

1. Billy Vunipola (England) -- 52%

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The England number eight was at his bulldozing best against Scotland and at times it looked like he was trying to play them on his own. He was the deserved recipient of the Man of the Match award and has away with the vote in this week's poll.

2. Carlo Canna (Italy) -- 15%

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The fly-half was erratic from the tee in the first-half, but his performance after the break put Italy on the front foot. Once he found his range, the confidence began to flow, and he finished off a Sergio Parisse-inspired try with precision. 

3. Virimi Vakatawa (France) -- 14%

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The sevens specialist last played a XV-a-side in 2013 but he was a bright spark in an otherwise drab France line-up in Paris. His sidestep gave Les Bleus a rare attacking edge and he was fully deserving of his debut try.

4. Liam Williams (Wales) -- 8%

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Considering he wasn't even in Wales' match day 23 when he woke up on Sunday morning, Williams put in an outstanding performance at the Aviva Stadium. Comfortable under the high ball, his willingness to run from deep and break the line gave Wales a dimension in attack they would have lacked without him.

5. Rory Best (Ireland) -- 8%

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Ireland's new skipper set the tone early as the hosts tore into their visitors. Having put so much into the first half it was understandable that he tired. Best remained fully committed to making tackles around the breakdown and he exited the game to a deserved ovation when replaced late on.

6. John Hardie (Scotland) -- 3%

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The Scotland openside was a constant menace at the breakdown and worked well in tandem with John Barclay. He will only improve in the Six Nations and offers that southern-hemisphere-fetcher side to Scotland's game.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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