World Test XV 2010 - Team Announced

[JJ]

1 Guthro Steenkamp (SA) Gethin Jenkins (WAL)
2 Stephen Moore (Aust) Kevin Mealamu (NZ)
3 Owen Franks (NZ) / Martin Castrogiovanni (It)
4 Brad Thorn (NZ)
5 Nathan Sharpe (Aust) Victor Matfield (SA)
6 Juan Smith (SA) Jerome Kaino (NZ)
7 Richie McCaw (NZ)
8 Keiran Reid (NZ)
9 Ben Youngs (Eng) Piri Weepu (NZ)
10 Dan Carter (NZ)
11 Drew Mitchell (Aust)
12 Ma'a Nonu (NZ)
13 Conrad Smith (NZ)
14 Corey Jane (NZ)
15 Kurtley Beale (Aust) Mils Muliana (NZ)

The projected TSF XV (based on current voting, which is ongoing). I have no real problem with any of the changes. There is a good argument for any of them in a World XV, and the TSF NZ bias pushes them ahead for the win on that forum. The exception though is Weepu. But that is more a case of no real standout at scrumhalf this year.

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.

 

[Aussie D]

My BaaBaa's Team
1 Jenkins 2 DuPlessis 3 Cole 4 Lawes 5 Bekker 6 Kaino 7 Pocock 8 Heaslip 9 Hougaard 10 Cooper 11 Habana 12 DeJongh 13 AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo 15 Dagg

 

[RugbyReg]

My BaaBaa's Team
1 Jenkins 2 DuPlessis 3 Cole 4 Lawes 5 Bekker 6 Kaino 7 Pocock 8 Heaslip 9 Hougaard 10 Cooper 11 Habana 12 DeJongh 13 AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo 15 Dagg

great team!

 

[Langthorne]

Just to put the World XV discussion into perspective - the criteria for selection was "must have played at least 3 tests" so DuPlessis would qualify.


Baa Baa Team to smash that World XV:

1 Jenkins
2 Du Plessis
3 Castrogiovanni
4 Lawes
5 Nallet
6 Elsom
7 Pocock
8 Chabal
9 Weipu
10 Cooper
11 Ioane
12 O'Connor
13 O'Driscoll
14 Gear
15 Nanai-Williams*

* uncapped player


Reasons:

1-3 should have been the World XV front row, so they'll go very well
4,5 both great at the set piece and strong ball runners
6 strong contender for World XV, lineout option, great runner and defender
7 It's Pocock - no explaination needed
8 L'Homme des Cavernes - smashes everything in attack and defence
9 was on fire before his injury
10 made for Baa Baa rugby
11 Devastating runner, was on fire before injury
12 this is his position
13 better that Smith
14 so hard to stop
15 he was a fantastic replacement for Mills during the s14, was a bit erratic, suits Baa Baa rugby


Very Wallaby centric, but there you go

 

[Kangaroo Sausage]

Alright i'll have crack at this.

Firstly, for context, i'm gonna have to drop my cover and come out as a Kiwi and a TSF member, so there'll be some bias there. My first picks will be the guys i would have picked as world XV members ahead of the above named. Mealamu, Mils and Kaino. All 3 would have to be very close with the world XV guys so purely country bias either way i reckon. I think i also picked AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) in my world XV. The rest i pick for a combination of excitement value (it is the Baabaas after all), an excellent year marking them as world class contenders or an outstanding performance against the ABs giving them extra stature (bias again)

1. Gethin Jenkins
2. Keven Mealamu
3. Carl Hayman (why not, its not a test match and i will not listen to any arguments that he is not still the best tighthead in the world until at least 2020)(honourable mention to Dan Cole who was good against the ABs)
4. Courtney Lawes
5. Victor Matfield (shit year but great player)
6. Jerome Kaino
7. David Pocock
8. Imanol Harinordoquy
9. Will Genia (only if he promises to play as well as we know he can)
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.)
11. Hosea Gear
12. Sonny Bill Williams (not because i think he is the next best 12 but just because i love watching him play)
13 Adam Ashley-Cooper
14. Julian Savea (taking a leaf from Aussie D and Brumbie guy's books, a super exciting uncapped player on the wing. Unfortunately i've seen Vainikolo and Smith play too much and their flakiness and general uselessness overwhelms the ball carrying ability. Savea is a star for the future and would be great for Baabaa style play)
15. Junior Muliaina

 

[disco]

Sharpe and Moore ahead of Vic and Bismarck? Come on boys. Homeboy selections rule OK?

This is 2010 world xv. No way was BDP & Matfield better than Moore & Sharpe this international season.

 

[Viking]

Heres my Baa Baa's team. Strong front row, South Africian second rowers 'cant go wrong there', Kaino I thought was the best 6 around, Pocock need i say anything, Number 8 was a hard choice. Weepu was good better then Genia i thought, Cooper for attack with big/strong/fast centres, in form wingers and a solid fullback. Looks to me like a bloody good team.

1 Jenkins (Wales)
2.Mealamu (NZ)
3 Castrogiovanni (It)
4 Matfield (SA)
5 Bekker (SA)
6 Kaino (NZ)
7 Pocock (AUS)
8 Heaslip (I)
9 Weepu (NZ)
10 Cooper (AUS)
11 Gear (NZ)
12 Sonny Bill Williams (NZ)
13 AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) (AUS)
14 Ashton (Eng)
15 Muliaina (NZ)

 

[Bullrush]

This is 2010 world xv. No way was BDP & Matfield better than Moore & Sharpe this international season.

Given the poor Wallaby scrum all year, I wouldn't have picked any Aussies in the tight five.

 

[DPK]

Given the poor Wallaby scrum all year, I wouldn't have picked any Aussies in the tight five.

I thought about reasoning like this for a bit 5 minutes. But Sharpe did a lot of work around the field against every team we played and despite what the guys on TSF say, the Aussie lineout was great this year with Sharpe and Rocky organising and running it.

 

[cyclopath]

Given my inherent Kiwiness, I wouldn't have picked any Aussies in the tight five.

Fixed it for you.
Fairly specious argument - like saying the Aussie forwards were outplayed most of the year at the breakdown, so Pocock is rubbish. Or saying that because the ABs won all but one test, all their tight 5 are the best in the world. Sharpe played well, and is but one of five tight forwards.

 

[barbarian]

A Barbarians side in this circumstance shouldn't just be a World 2nd XV like some have picked. You need a mix of veterans, youngsters, excitement machines and of course the token wog front rower. So with that in mind:

1. Greg Sommerville (NZ)
2. William Servat (France)
3. Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
4. Courtney Lawes (Eng)
5. Dan Vickerman (Aus)
6. Jerome Kaino (NZ)
7. Sam Warburton (Wales)
8. Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
9. George Gregan (Aus)
10. Quade Cooper (Aus)
11. Takudzwa Ngwenya (USA)
12. Jamie Roberts (Wales)
13. Seilala Mapusua (Samoa)
14. Israel Dagg (NZ)
15. Tim Nanai-Williams (Counties Manukau)

Few curveballs in there, but that is what the Baabaas are all about. I would pay good money to watch that team.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

A Barbarians side in this circumstance shouldn't just be a World 2nd XV like some have picked. You need a mix of veterans, youngsters, excitement machines and of course the token wog front rower. So with that in mind:

1. Greg Sommerville (NZ)
2. William Servat (France)
3. Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
4. Courtney Lawes (Eng)
5. Dan Vickerman (Aus)
6. Jerome Kaino (NZ)
7. Sam Warburton (Wales)
8. Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
9. George Gregan (Aus)
10. Quade Cooper (Aus)
11. Takudzwa Ngwenya (USA)
12. Jamie Roberts (Wales)
13. Seilala Mapusua (Samoa)
14. Israel Dagg (NZ)
15. Tim Nanai-Williams (Counties Manukau)

Few curveballs in there, but that is what the Baabaas are all about. I would pay good money to watch that team.

A good left field selection.

I see no Saffers there, and not sure that your combinations would work.

I would like to see Bam Bam get a go at 7. Possibly the Battleship at 2, and FdP at 9.

I recall many moons ago a Japanese winger scoring an absolute belter of an alley oop try under the sticks from a centering kick against the Darkness in a Darkness vs Rest of the World game in a 100 year NZRT game. Haven't seen any Japanese games on the tele this year, but would like to fit one of them in the 2010 Barbars XV.

Would have the Darkness U20 #10 Tyler Bleyendaal from the U20 RWC in Argentina on the bench. Would also like to see the Hairy Donkey on the bench.

 

[Gallagher]

MAYBE you could argue Mils over Kurtley, Mealamu over Moore, maybe! But theres no way anyone can pick Victor over Sharpe this year, Victor has without doubt dropped his workload this year, Sharpe ha sbeen outstanding.

 

[Bullrush]

Fixed it for you.
Fairly specious argument - like saying the Aussie forwards were outplayed most of the year at the breakdown, so Pocock is rubbish. Or saying that because the ABs won all but one test, all their tight 5 are the best in the world. Sharpe played well, and is but one of five tight forwards.

The difference in this comparison is that Pocock was so outstandingly brilliant despite even when the Wallaby pack was outplayed at the breakdown.

One of the key roles of any player in the tight five is the scrum. The Wallabies were so totally dominated in this area all year that to my mind, it's hard to pick a player who isn't contributing in the scrum. It's not like there aren't any other locks running around who were just as good if not better than Sharpe at the other aspects of the game eg. ball carrying. And yes, the line-out did work well but it was hardly the dominant line-out that SA had a few years back. I don't know what the stats were but I can't remember any game where the Wallabies absolutley dominated at line-out time eg. won ball against the throw almost at will. If Sharpe had been doing that then maybe it would out-weigh the scrumming negatives.

 

[fatprop]

I would have Castro every game.

Maybe, with that side on a dry track I would pick Franks because of his mobility and workrate.

In the mud Castro

 

[disco]

One of the key roles of any player in the tight five is the scrum. The Wallabies were so totally dominated in this area all year that to my mind, it's hard to pick a player who isn't contributing in the scrum.

The Aussie scrum isn't great but Sharpe can hardly be blamed for that.

 

[Viking]

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.)

Morne Steyn?

 

[Scorz]

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.

 

[Kangaroo Sausage]

Morne Steyn?

Morne has a kicking game. And he was dismal this year. I'd still take Evans every time.

 

[Groucho]

My BaaBaa's Team
1 Jenkins 2 DuPlessis 3 Cole 4 Lawes 5 Bekker 6 Kaino 7 Pocock 8 Heaslip 9 Hougaard 10 Cooper 11 Habana 12 DeJongh 13 AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo 15 Dagg

I can see that team beating the incumbents on their day.