England pose with the Six Nations silverware despite being denied the Grand Slam by a resurgent Ireland side in Dublin © Getty Images

With the battle for northern hemisphere supremacy done and dusted for yet another year, we pick through the pieces of the Championship to offer you a cut-out-and-keep list of the 10 things we learned...

1. A southern hemisphere side will win the Rugby World Cup
The race for the Six Nations crown may have been high on drama but it was largely low on quality. Only Ireland's demolition of England in Dublin will have the Tri-Nations giants worried but they will not lose too much sleep. There were glimpses of a brighter future for some but no side produced the consistent quality that will be required to win the World Cup. And with only pre-tournament tune-ups between now and the big one there is very little opportunity to iron out the sizeable kinks.

2. The current Television Match Official set-up is flawed
The farce that played out during Wales' victory over Ireland at the Millennium Stadium was shocking. Touch judge Peter Allan and referee Jonathan Kaplan conspired to drag the name of the Championship through the mud by failing to spot what was wrong with Matthew Rees' quick lineout in the build-up to Mike Phillips crucial try. Allan's decision-making was laughable while Kaplan's hands were tied by protocol. The International Rugby Board needs to act to allow the use of TMOs in such scenarios, and not just to clarify the act of scoring, and if they don't they risk their showpiece event being blighted later this year.

3. Player of the Championship will not be player of the Championship
In a change from previous years the shortlist for the best player in the Six Nations was based on the Man of the Match awards and not the views of a distinguished panel. As a result some key names are missing from the list vying for pubilc votes that will decide the honour. But worse than that - the players who won the Man of the Match in the final round are not included! As a result Italy's Sergio Parisse and Scotland's Richie Gray - arguably the Championship's stand-out performers - must make do with our praise. We can only hope the public rescues the sponsor's credibility by giving the honour to Ireland's Sean O'Brien or Wales' Sam Warburton.

4. The Lansdowne Road roar is back
Ireland's crushing victory over England highlighted many things, including the fact that their new home can generate the same kind of atmosphere the old ground was famous for. It just needed a very special performance from the Irish and the opportunity to derail England's bid for a Grand Slam. What it didn't need was the incredibly annoying input of the public address system, which piped in the sterling efforts of a band of drummers. In the words of the Daily Telegraph's Mick Cleary - "It was crass, tacky and disrespectful. Heroic deeds do not need an accompanying soundtrack."

5. Italy are no longer also-rans
The Azzurri may have ended up with the wooden spoon once again but they more than held their own in this year's Championship. The historic victory over France was of course the highlight, with Mirco Bergamasco booting his side to their first Championship victory over their neighbours, but they also had Ireland on the rack and worried Wales. They didn't turn up against England and they are still heavily reliant on the likes of Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni but they are arguably the most improved side in the Championship and will never be taken lightly again.

6. The only predictable thing about France is their unpredictability
We may have known this one already but no-one saw the post-Italy meltdown coming. To remind you, coach Marc Lievremont accused his side of "cowardice" and said they had betrayed the French shirt. "I do not have the impression we asked them to walk on the moon," said Lievremont following his side's failure to play as instructed. His outburst took the spotlight off the players and they did return to winning ways against Wales, but all is not well and Lievremont's tenure is unlikely to continue past the World Cup.

7. Initiation traditions alive and well
England winger Chris Ashton revealed in an interview prior to his side's Grand Slam decider with Ireland one of the demands made of debutants. "When you play for England for the first time, you have to have a drink with everyone in the team. That’s one drink with each person, and it’s whatever they want to have. So after my debut [against France in March 2010], I was battered." Nice. Then there is the supposed humiliating act of singing a song in front of the rest of the squad - but this back-fired in the case of Alex Corbisiero. The New York-born prop silenced his hecklers with a rap about his side's victory over Italy.

8. Age will not wither them.
Ireland skipper Brian O'Driscoll celebrated his 32nd birthday during this year's Championship but his star shows no sign of waning. Already assured of legendary status having been the driving force behind Irish rugby over the past decade, he wrote another famous chapter in his glittering career with three tries that carried him past the Championship record previously held by Scotland's Ian Smith. But the Scots can take heart from the longevity of one of their own - veteran fullback Chris Paterson, who rolled back the years with some outstanding displays and industry that belied his 32 years.

9. Performance-related pay?
Fresh from penning a new contract with Scottish Rugby that will see him remain in charge of Scotland until 2015, Andy Robinson steered his side to fifth place in this year's Championship. Similarly, Wales coach Warren Gatland orchestrated a fourth place finish with the ink on his own four-year contract extension just about dry. In contrast, the Rugby Football Union will not rush into talks about a new deal for Martin Johnson - whose contract runs until the end of the year - despite their title success. France coach Marc Lievremont is unlikely to stay in the post beyond this year despite a runners-up berth while Italy coach Nick Mallett is also seemingly on the way out despite masterminding their latest stunning upset. Go figure.

10. Chris Ashton's swallow dive is here to stay
You couldn't escape Chris Ashton's elaborate try celebration in the opening weeks of the Championship as the England speedster raced to a record-equalling six scores - and he even did it when he didn't score. The tries may have dried up but we can expect to see the celebration again after he shunned a warning from boss Johnson about the risks involved. He won't be told you know.

Believe it or not - Italy's Sergio Parisse is not in the running for the Six Nations Player of the Championship © Getty Images

The shortlist for the Six Nations Player of the Championship was announced earlier this week and threatens to plunge the competition back into the mire just a few short days after the Cardiff blunder that made the game a laughing stock.

In a change from previous years, where a panel of experts selected the shortlist, the 12 names in the mix this time around earned their place by being named Man of the Match during the first four rounds of the Championship.

As a result we have the following vying for the public votes that will decide the winner:
Toby Flood (England)
Sean O’Brien (Ireland)
Maxime Medard (France)
Chris Ashton (England)
Sam Warburton (Wales)
Thierry Dusautoir (France)
Fabio Semenzato (Italy)
Tom Palmer (England)
Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
Andrea Masi (Italy)
James Hook (Wales)
James Haskell (England)

I am sure the change in selection criteria was well-intentioned and I can see how the idea of pooling the Man of the Match winners will have attracted the support of the title sponsors, but it ignores the consistency of others who warrant recognition - as well as those who may produce a dazzling display in this weekend's final round of matches.

Looking at the shortlist, there can be little argument about the inclusion of O'Brien, Ashton, Warburton, Palmer, O'Gara and Haskell but the rest can count themselves very lucky. The England trio of Flood, Palmer and Haskell loom large as likely winners of the honour should they complete a clean sweep with victory in Dublin, but that depends on their ability to wield some influence in what is sure to be a tough and tense encounter.

So who is missing from this list? Any selection criteria that ignores Italy's Sergio Parisse is fatally flawed. His ability to consistently excel is astounding and time and time again he is the driving force behind his side - most recently in their historic victory over France. Ask coach Nick Mallett to name his most valuable player and there will be little hesitation in his answer. One of Italy's two truly world-class performers (prop Martin Castrogiovanni is another who sadly misses out), Parisse can feel a little hard done by while his countrymen Semenzato and Masi can thank him personally for every vote they receive.

Another name that warrants inclusion was Scotland lock Richie Gray. The youngest player in the Scotland squad is fast-becoming their best player, and with just 21 years on the clock there is evidently more improvement to come. But we are talking about the here and now and his three performances (injury denied him an appearance against Wales) underlined his value to the Scots with lung-busting efforts in defence and attack ensuring he was a central figure on each occasion. If the Scots do pick up the Wooden Spoon it will not have Gray's finger prints on it.

Who else? England No.8 Nick Easter may not attract the same kind of plaudits as Parisse but he certainly rivals his Italian counterpart in terms of consistency while Wales' Craig Mitchell also deserves a mention, having filled the significant void left by Adam Jones when many had questioned his ability to do so.

Knowing how these public votes tend to work, Ashton is likely to pick up the award due to his scoring exploits. His current tally of six tries (two against Wales and four more versus Italy) leave him level with England's Will Greenwood and Wales' Shane Williams in the race for the single season record while he is two tries short of the Championship record held by England's Cyril Lowe and Scotland's Ian Smith. Even if he doesn't eclipse these records the honour looks destined to go the headline-grabbing winger's way.

Personally, I would like to see one of the back-row trio of O'Brien, Warburton or Haskell take the prize, but I will not annoint anyone just yet. With a Grand Slam, the Championship title and the Wooden Spoon on the line who is to say another name will not cry out for inclusion this weekend?

UPDATE - As of March 18, Italy's Andrea Masi is leading the race for the honour with 21% of the vote. Oh dear.

SECOND UPDATE - March 23, Masi scoops the award with 30% of the vote - just ahead of his team-mate Fabio Semenzato. Congrats to Masi but the organisers can hang their heads.