Tuesday 18 December 2012

World XV

Recently enough, Warren Gatland the head coach of Lions 2013 said that not many Lions contenders would make a World XV, so I decided I'd try and see who would.

This team is based on form, and on class in recent years.

15. Contenders; Dagg, Beale, Halfpenny, Kearney, Foden

Dagg had been the best full back in the world for the last few years, with Beale close behind. Unfortunately Beale and all his management thinks he's a better 10. He's not. He can't pass properly. Yes he has play making skills, but can't be relied on as a primary play maker.

14. Contenders: Jane, Bowe, North, Habana, Malzeiu.

Malzeiu doesn't get enough recognition for how good he is, but I think he is one of the best. Probably not the best but still. Bowe is world class, but recently gone from being amazingly outstanding to just outstanding. Needs to recover form when he returns from injury.

Cory Jane and Habana had great 2012's and take the spots on the team.

13. Contenders: Smith, O'Driscoll, Davies, Rougerie.

I had a long think about this a long time ago. There aren't many world class 13's. Defence is a key component of this position, which someone like Anthony Fainga'a flourishes, but he is so useless in attack and line-running. Whereas Tuilagi runs great lines, but can't be relied on in defence.

Leaving these three great players. It's a testament to O'Driscoll that after such a consistent career he's still in this bracket. It's not just what he does, it's the calming influence over those playing with him and how he uses his brain to remain one of the best.

12. Contenders: Ma'a Nonu, Berrick Barnes, Wesley Fofana, Frans Steyn.

There are a lot of different types of 12, be it a second five-eight like Barnes or Steyn, or a crash ball specialist in Nonu, or whatever Fofana is.

But whatever Fofana is, he is awesome at it. Solid in defence and breath-taking in attack.

10. Contenders: Carter

For now, Carter is king. There may be challenges ahead with Handre Pollard and Johan Goosen.

9. Contenders: Morgan Parra, Kahn Fotaul'i, Will Genia,

Parra doesn't seem to start for France anymore, and I didn't see enough of Machenaud to include him here, but apparently he's good. Fotauli'i has been awesome since the world cup, but Genia is the best, and will continue to improve.

1. Contenders: Cian Healy, Yannick Forstier, Tendai Mtawrira, Jean Baptiste Poux, Sona Taumalolo

Healy has made huge strides, and is one of the best in the loose and continually improving in the tight, and at times acting as an openside. But Mtwarira is rightly named the beast, and probably gets it for me.

Roncero, having retired can't be considered anymore.

2. Contenders: Stephen Moore, Bismarck du Plessis, Schalk Britz

Bismarck du Plessis is a great player, and should have started for South Africa for the last number of years. His spot to own.

3. Contenders; John Afoa, Owen Franks, Dan Cole, Nicholas Mas,

I can't really say Afoa even those he's been awesome for Ulster, as he clearly wasn't the best in NZ if he left. Dan Cole is probably going to get it, as I don't rate Franks, or any of the SH tightheads.

4. Contenders: Eben Etzebeth, Paul O'Connell, Brad Thorn, Sam Whitelock, Bakkies Botha, Richie Gray, Nathan Hines, James Horwill.

Paul O'Connell is beset with injuries, otherwise I'd have in there. There is a changing of guard going on at the moment in this position in world rugby, with Thorn and Botha still playing, but not featuring in world rugby enough anymore.

Etzebeth has been a revelation and there might be an arguement for including him.

But I think Richie Gray has been amazing in losing teams, and I'll give him a spot.

6. Contenders: Stephen Ferris, Sean O'Brien, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, Theirry Dusautoir

There are more South Africans coming up, and Kaino would be included if he hadn't disappeared. But Lobbe is too amazing to leave out from here.

7. Contenders: Michael Hooper, David Pocock, Richie McCaw, Heinrich Brussouw, Juan Manuel Leguizamon,

It's getting closer. It's could have been Pocock before his injury, but now he's not necessarily the best in Australia. For form over the last few years, It has to be McCaw.

8. Contenders: Sergio Parisse, Jamie Heaslip, Kieran Read, Louis Picamoles, Imanol Hariordoquoy

There are a lot of top class 8's in the world. But Kieran Read distanced himself from the rest with an outstanding year.

Team :

15. Dagg, 14. Jane, 13. O'Driscoll, 12. Fofana, 11. Habana, 10. Carter, 9. Genia, 1. Mtwarira, 2, du Plessis, 3. Cole, 4. Etzebeth, 5. Gray, 6. Lobbe, 7. McCaw, 8. Read.

Subs: 16. Moore, 17, Healy,  18. Afoa, 19. Thorn, 20. Dusautoir, 21. Fotauli'i, 22. Beale, 23. Davies

Heineken Cup Round 4: An Irish Perspective

I don't think there as been a worse weekend from an Irish rugby's point of view.

Not only for results, but some key injuries, and what these results mean from this tournament, and subsequent tournaments.

Let's start off with Connacht. I don't know what to think of them. Just as I dismiss them as nobodies, they go and put in a terrific 80 minutes performance and end up beating someone like Biarritz. Comfortably.

I have to say, I'm excited about the future over there. They have some fantastic young Irish backs coming through; Henshaw, O'Hallorhan, McSharry and Marmion in particular, as well as some good young forwards too.

It's all well and good that these "tyros" are playing week in week out, and in a high standard of the H Cup; but if they are developing a habit of losing, or being so inconsistent that performances only occur once in a season, then that can't be good for their development.

Eric Elwood has done a fantastic job, and whoever takes over has to kick on. They need to be finishing more mid table in the Rabo, and nearer to the top then the bottom of the table. Realistically, they have good players, and there is no reason why they can't. They are better than the Italian, Scottish and one or two of the Welsh teams.

Leinster were beaten up at the weekend. I'm never seen a more lacklustre performance from them. Never mind about the gift of a bonus point, they aren't getting through.

Admittedly there are a lot of injuries, but they have a lot of depth in some talented youngsters that need to start stepping up.

Strauss will be a blow for the next 4 weeks. I have to say I thought it could be worse at the time.

On the positive side; Eoin O'Malley and Luke Fitzgerald are back soon. Both need a good long run in the team, injury free and hopefully both will show the talent that they have promised for so long.

Ulster are the least worst off of the provinces. Yes the record is gone, but that might prove to be a good thing. Less pressure, and they should still go through with probably a home quarter-final.

Tommy Bowe looks like he could be a big loss. I think this will put his Lions tour in doubt. Hopefully Gilroy will establish himself, and play consistently. They also have young Chris Cochrane and Peter Nelson who could possibly get some more gametime as a result.

Munster played well on Sunday. Not well enough to win unfortunately. But they aren't the side of past glories. They do have some key injuries, but it's hard to see what's happening for the future with so many injuries.

Ronan O'Gara showed how much they will struggle without him, and I don't think that Keatley is up to much. JJ Hanrahan needs to decide his best position - 10 or 12 and just go with it. He could be something special.

Zebo admittedly had a great game, surprised me, and hinted that he might have more potential and something about him than I thought.

Ulster will be the only Irish team to go through to the knockout stages. I do think either Leinster or Munster will make the Amlin. Which might be good for me, because I've tickets to the final of both.

For future tournaments, with the English and French throwing the toys out of the pram, them winning 11 out of 12 matchs this weekend was not a good thing. It shows that the competition is reliant on them, and that the Welsh and Irish sides need to improve.

The Heineken Cup is a fantastic tournament, all the permutations between different pools make each round exciting. This needs to be kept as much as possible going forward.

Kicking Off

I decided to make just a rugby blog.

You can see some older rugby posts here:

But that blog is mixed in with some personal stuff, so I decided to split the two.

Hope you enjoy.

I'll have more rugby posts at that link in the future, once I've archived them properly.