World Test XV 2010 - Team Announced

[DPK]

And yes, the line-out did work well but it was hardly the dominant line-out that SA had a few years back.

True, but at the same time the lineout isn't as big a part of the game as it was when SA were dominating.

 

[chief]

Keep dreaming on Moore, and Mitchell fellas.

 

[barbarian]

I tend to agree about Moore but can you propose an alternative to Mitchell?

He is the only Aussie making numerous World XVs around the web mainly because there isn't much competition in his position. He has played bloody well though, and has found the consistency he was always lacking.

 

[Bullrush]

True, but at the same time the lineout isn't as big a part of the game as it was when SA were dominating.

Even less of a reason to select Sharpe then.

 

[cyclopath]

No Kaino genuinely surprises me. I like Juan Smith, if I could nick a loosie for NZ it would be him, but Kaino has had a better year.

It was a pretty close vote, Scorz. Which demonstrates the point, perhaps, that no #6 was truly better than all others. I thought Smith made a bigger difference for the Bokke, but I'd have either.

 

[dwats002]

Considering NZ won 13/14 games this year I'm not surprised there's 11 of 'em. Both Rees and Jones should have secured the 2 and 3 jersey respectively IMO. Squeaky didn't prove himself enough for my liking (wasn't fully until eoyt due to injury)
Beale instead of Mills.
Matfield had a bad year (by his standards), fact.
I'm gonna go right ahead and put SBW in at 12 instead of Nonu.

Beale ahead of Mils is a joke mate

 

[dwats002]

I tend to agree about Moore but can you propose an alternative to Mitchell?

He is the only Aussie making numerous World XVs around the web mainly because there isn't much competition in his position. He has played bloody well though, and has found the consistency he was always lacking.

yeah but Gear played better rugby in a month than Mitchell played all year

 

[dwats002]

Alright i'll have crack at this.



10. Nick Evans (I know this will be a bit contraversial but here goes. Quade for me is easily the next best 10 this year but i'm afraid that his weaknesses (defence particularly but also general flakiness) make it impossible for me to select him. Maybe i have a poor imagination, but other than QC (Quade Cooper), the only other player with an all round complete game to compete with DC is Evans.)

Mate that is just silly, plus how can you say Cooper has an all round complete game, he isn't in the class of DC or Evan, you can also put Wilko in that mix as well. On attack he can be brilliant, thats obvious, but he is a flake, evident with the wobs inconsistency. To be a decent Flyhalf you need to be good at all aspects of the position such as attack, defence, tactical kicking and all round organisation and all he has is the first aspect. Plus to think the Wobs is close to the AB's is almost as silly to suggest Cooper is close to Carter. Being able to win one off games doesn't mean you are close and you guys won the most meaningless one of the year.

 

[dobduff11]

Spot the All Black fan ^^^^^

Gear played very well however it is easier to maintain form over a month than a year. Plus Mitchell had a great year anyway, super 14 was awesome end of tri nations awesome, spring tour really good and then awesome.

Beale over Mils isn't a joke, both played extremely good rugby over the international season, mils was better early on but Kurtley really tore up towards the end. This was recognised by the fact that both were nominated for world player of the year by the irb.

 

[dwats002]

Spot the All Black fan ^^^^^

Gear played very well however it is easier to maintain form over a month than a year. Plus Mitchell had a great year anyway, super 14 was awesome end of tri nations awesome, spring tour really good and then awesome.

Beale over Mils isn't a joke, both played extremely good rugby over the international season, mils was better early on but Kurtley really tore up towards the end. This was recognised by the fact that both were nominated for world player of the year by the irb.

is that why you guys had a low winning percentage

 

[dobduff11]

The form bit? I guess you are talking about the november internationals

Well we narrowly lost to the All Blacks, beat Australia twice in a year and they beat you a couple of weeks earlier.
We are fourth in the world rankings and recovering from some recent ridiculous coaching decisions.
I don't think the past two years have been too bad for England, a bit frustrating but not 2008.

I think that video that someone posted about the McCaw poster thing in Christchurch says it all. In NZ nearly everyone loves Rugby Union. nI England if you did that with a Lewis Moody poster no-one would know who he was.

Although your population is small you are decent at three sports Union, league and Cricket.

In england we have to split are resources between Football, Cricket, Golf, Union, League, athletics, swimming, racing, hockey, a load of olympic sports and Horse racing. All of which we have big followings for and lots of funding.

Its a similar situation to Australia but on a larger scale.

 

[cyclopath]

is that why you guys had a low winning percentage

I assume you realise he is an England supporter?

 

[cyclopath]

Beale ahead of Mils is a joke mate

No, a joke would be someone so dramatically worse than someone else being named, like Stephen Donald over Carter. Since Beale and Mils have featured highly on many teams of the year, it seems safe to assume many other people disagree with you. Funnily enough, including some Kiwis.

 

[barbarian]

Beale ahead of Mils is a joke mate

:yay :yay :yay

Great contribution mate.

But seriously, a joke would be picking Gear in a team of the year based on a month's worth of games featuring Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales.

To be in a World XV you have to prove yourself against the best, and Gear hasn't come close to that. I am not saying he isn't a potentially great player, but only an idiot would have him in a 2010 World XV.

 

[dwats002]

:yay :yay :yay

Great contribution mate.

But seriously, a joke would be picking Gear in a team of the year based on a month's worth of games featuring Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales.

To be in a World XV you have to prove yourself against the best, and Gear hasn't come close to that. I am not saying he isn't a potentially great player, but only an idiot would have him in a 2010 World XV.

yeah but only an idiot would pick mitchell over gear

 

[dwats002]

No, a joke would be someone so dramatically worse than someone else being named, like Stephen Donald over Carter. Since Beale and Mils have featured highly on many teams of the year, it seems safe to assume many other people disagree with you. Funnily enough, including some Kiwis.

only saying this is cos your winning percentage is bout 66% and it seems that is how often most of your players play well, with the notable exception of pocock, but you seem to want to pick players who dont perform as often mate

 

[Kangaroo Sausage]

Mate that is just silly, plus how can you say Cooper has an all round complete game, he isn't in the class of DC or Evan, you can also put Wilko in that mix as well. On attack he can be brilliant, thats obvious, but he is a flake, evident with the wobs inconsistency. To be a decent Flyhalf you need to be good at all aspects of the position such as attack, defence, tactical kicking and all round organisation and all he has is the first aspect. Plus to think the Wobs is close to the AB's is almost as silly to suggest Cooper is close to Carter. Being able to win one off games doesn't mean you are close and you guys won the most meaningless one of the year.

Did you even bother to read my post before you replied? I said Cooper was the next best 10 in test rugby this year, bit dont want to pick him cos i dont think he has a strong all round game.

And whose you guys?

 

[cyclopath]

only saying this is cos your winning percentage is bout 66% and it seems that is how often most of your players play well, with the notable exception of pocock, but you seem to want to pick players who dont perform as often mate

dwats, the quality of your posting is not rising. Interesting extrapolation that because the ABs win most Tests, all their players always play well, whereas ours only play well 66% of the time, unless they're Pocock.
Can I just go out on a limb here and suggest you are a prize dribbler? World dominating teams usually have 6-10 world class players. Not all the ABs are best on show just because they are ABs, and your daft percentage method doesn't make it so.
Feel free to actually post something with basis, other than "The ABs are the best" and you might get some credibility.

 

[dwats002]

dwats, the quality of your posting is not rising. Interesting extrapolation that because the ABs win most Tests, all their players always play well, whereas ours only play well 66% of the time, unless they're Pocock.
Can I just go out on a limb here and suggest you are a prize dribbler? World dominating teams usually have 6-10 world class players. Not all the ABs are best on show just because they are ABs, and your daft percentage method doesn't make it so.
Feel free to actually post something with basis, other than "The ABs are the best" and you might get some credibility.

mate what I'm saying is, not the world XV being the AB's, just the consistency of guys selected from the Wobs seem to coincide with your winning percentage, its not a coincidence mate that your winning % happens to be 66%

 

[dwats002]

its not like im saying Aus doesn't have good rugby players, just saying that not all of them are world beaters yet