Five Kiwis, three Irishmen, three South africans, two Welshmen, a Samoan and an Anglo-Samoan. No, it’s not the England team, but RugbyHeaven’s (AUS) best XV for the pool stages as selected by Paul Cully.
We always love to pick our own teams, chop and change.
What do you think of this team?
Who would you pick? Go ahead , have your say in the comments.
15. Israel Dagg (New Zealand): Has barely put a foot wrong, opening up defences with his brilliant running and showing a security under the high ball that will only get more important as the tournament progresses. Next best: Kurtley Beale
14. George North (Wales): Massive unit with the balanced running style of somebody 20kg lighter. Epitomises everything good about modern back play – big and strong but has a lovely rugby brain. Next best: Chris Ashton (England).
13. Manu Tuilagi (England): We knew he was a juggernaut with ball in hand, but Scotland game revealed a great appetite – and nous – for the defensive side of things. What a discovery. Next best: Conrad Smith (New Zealand).
12. Frans Steyn (South Africa): The man around whom South Africa had been building so much of their attacking play. Guaranteed to get over the gain line, and can kick penalties from 55-60m. A big loss. Next best: Jamie Roberts (Wales) .
11. Richard Kahui (New Zealand): Has excelled on both flanks with his clever running, offloads and nose for the try line. Next best: Adam-Ashley Cooper (Australia).
10. Dan Carter (New Zealand): Of all the positions, this was is the easiest to pick. Head and shoulders above not only his NZ understudies, but the rest of the world. Next best: Morne Steyn (South Africa).
9. Mike Phillips (Wales): Plays like a fourth loose forward when required and has nursed along his young No.10 Rhys Priestland superbly. Next best: Will Genia (Australia)
8. George Stowers (Samoa). Ploughed through the Springboks’ defence for a classic No.8 try and ran over defenders all tournament. Next best: Toby Faletau (Wales) .
7. Sean O’Brien (Ireland): Probably the best ball-carrying back-rower in the world right now. Creates havoc in attack and destroys on defence. Next best: Sam Warburton (Wales)
6. Jerome Kaino (New Zealand): The hard man of the All Blacks pack is in the form of his life and leaves a huge gap when he is not there. Next best: Stephen Ferris (Ireland)
5. Paul O’Connell (Ireland): A go-to man at lineout time, the engine in the scrum, and with a soft pair of hands to boot. Inspirational. Next best: Patricio Albacete (Argentina)
4. Danie Rossouw (South Africa): Magnificently athletic display against Fiji showed that he is not all about raw aggression in the tight stuff. Next best: Alan Wyn-Jones (Wales).
3. Owen Franks (New Zealand): The rock in an increasingly aggressive All Blacks scrum that has improved with every outing. Next best: Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
2. Bismarck du Plessis (South Africa): Limited game time so far, but when he is on it’s like watching a force of nature. Tremendous breakdown presence. Next best: Rory Best (Ireland).
1. Cian Healy (Ireland). Took the Wallabies apart and then saw off Martin Castrogiovanni with a wink and a smile. Technique plus power equals problems for tight-heads. Next best: Tony Woodcock (New Zealand).
Net om van iets anders te praat….ek is sommer vroe more moerig vir die Blou Bul-bestuur na ek die koerant met die Bees Roux-storie gelees het.
Kan hulle nie maar die man uitlos en hulle bepaal by hul span (wat deesdae sulke kuk rugby opdis),instede daarvan om Bees verder te vertrap nie?
Bees moet terug N-Kaap toe (Griekwas of Cheetahs),te moer met die Bulle.
Ek hoop regtig hy kan weer sy rugby hervat na al sy probleme die afgelope twee jaar, hy is n ,goeie eerlike speler, Springbokmateriaal, die boytjie van Prieska.
VictorMatfield
“One could feel it at press conference today. The Business end of the competition is here. All about handling pressure now”
mornesteyn
“On our way to Wellington,looking forward to a great week.World cup is going to a next level now!!!Cheers guys”
Francoishougi
“Back to Wellington now..Glad I’m ok and not going home! Looking forward to the week ahead!”
Francoishougi
“Goodmorning all! Another rainy day in Wellington…not nice seeing Frans leave the fam but like @BryanHabana says the show must go on”
@ Pietman:
Praat jy van die berig op IOL? Wel ek dink dit sal slapgat van die Bulle wees as hulle dit nie doen nie. Spelers word oral oor geskors oor dronkenskap in die publiek, hy het nog verder gegaan as net dit. Vir seker moet hulle hom vasvat. En die berig wat ek gesien het se hy word dissipliner verhoor, heeltemal korrek.
Hiers wat ek gelees het
“Rugby player Bees Roux will hear the fate of his career on Tuesday when he faces a Blue Bulls disciplinary hearing.
Roux pleaded guilty last month to murdering a metro police officer with his bare hands.
“I can confirm that there will be a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, but I cannot comment any further as it is an internal matter,” Blue Bulls high performance manager Ian Schwartz said.
Roux reportedly faces three separate charges with the Bulls, including a breach of contract after he trained with the Pumas rugby team during his trial.
The 29-year-old prop, a former Griquas player, signed a two-year contract with the Bulls at the end of the 2009 season. His agreement with the Pretoria-based rugby union would end this month”
@ superBul:
Hulle wil hom nie he nie, laat die ou gaan en vir die Pumas jol, hy is klaar gestraf.
Pietman, he has gone through the criminal legal process,and if he has trained with the Puma’s that is clearlty a breach of his contract. Also being drunk in public is also bringing the team into disrepute. Now that the external legal process has been finalised, his labour process can now begin. As good a rugby player as he is, he still needs to abide by team protocol and contract, even though he was under suspension till the outcome of his case.
I just hope after everythging has happened, that he can get on with his life and still play rugby, and that something positive can come out of this tragic incident
Morne Steyn, Rugby Heaven’s 2nd best flyhalf? Then world no stocks must be very low at the moment.
@ Lion4ever:
9
that only means one thing , no actually 2
The selector is peed off with Quade
or he hopes that by making Morne that good his head will swell and Quade becomes the underdog
True Super, true. Morne is just not the same as he was a couple of years ago. Just glad we have a huge pool of 10’s coming through in SA. Lambie, Goosen, Cronje, Katrekellis etc.
Absolutely agree with Frans Steyn as the best 12 in this wc no matter who plays how from here on at inside centre, he will be the best inside centre that played in this wc. He was brilliant. Massive loss.
Fransie was so vital for our chances to get through to the final. Losing him was like losing 3 players all at once. Similar if we lost Burger,Danie,Brussow, Bissie and Victor. So really hope from here on if we make it through this quarter no more injuries.
Not sure how Morne got to number two? Suppose with his accurate boot. Morne gonna struggle without Frans at 12. Think we had better start with Butch this week if he is injury free.
See all our wingers are injured. Well our starting wingers.
Habs – Hematoma
JPP – Knee (seems to be the worst at this stage I read) We lose JPP we lose another massive key player. Especially in defence.
Hougaard – They still not sure on him. Think he may have concussion, whether he says he is fine or not. Can’t play with a suspected concussion. IRB rules. If Hougaard can’t start another massive loss. He was outstanding this wc.
So we are left with Aplon and Odwa. Not a good prospect at all. Odwa is solid and hardly lets the team down. But he is slow. So against the Aussies not so sure with him playing. Though Odwa was good against Fiji then we still had Frans at 12. Aplon was not great against Oz in Durbs. Missed many tackles. But he is a gutsy player and very good finding gaps. Needs to watch and not go out of position when trying to tackle a player. He leaves wide gaps open for the opposition.
Instead of Zane going over we should have sent for another wing or in from fb. Odwa or Aplon could cover fb if we had too. We really don’t have top class wings left over there. Mvovo should have been on this tour probably ahead of Odwa. Instead of bringing Zane over we should have brought Taute or Viljoen. Viljoen also has a big boot. Then Taute is looking superb for the Lions. Jeez, just can’t understand how they select. Probably cause Zane knows the game plan and knows the Bulls style of play well. Cause think that is how we are gonna play this Sunday.
So without our best wings and our brilliant 12 we not looking as good as last week.
Oz have all their best back too. Pocock will make a huge difference. They were without 3 of their best when they played Ireland. All those players are back for the quarter final. Now it is us that have injuries to key players. Just have to hope we can.
@ Puma:12 – Meant start with Butch at 12. He will bring more there than JdV.
When I mention that Odwa and Aplon could cover fb, I mean if Lambie got injured. Lambie has to start everygame now at fb. He is playing really great rugby there. Safe hands and that makes me feel calm with him there.
@ Lion4ever:
Granted bru, feel sorry for the boytjie, but seems everyone is out to get him, he needs a break and to get on with life.
And furthermore, while I am in this kuk mood, I am also heavily pissed off with those Samoans, they have been playing like this since WC 1995 (when Joost and Juba nearly got beheaded by Pat Lam), they should stick to 7’s and picking coconuts on the islands….and stay out of the 15 man game (too many opportunities for them to become physical).
Faark…Frans Steyn of all people, he was our kingpin, eish man!!!!
@ Pietman:15 – Howzit Piet,
I agree about the Samoans they were just out there to hurt our boys. Disgraceful from them. I also said yesterday on keo that they have being doing this since 95 when they broke Joubert’s hand. Then last world cup they tried something similar and Lima knocked himself out. Think it was him.
No place in rugby for their digusting low life tactics. They were hitting our players without the ball all day long at the back of the head.
We lost our play maker in Frans Steyn. With him at inside centre our backline looked very good. He was key for us to make it through to the finals. Think most teams knew that. Without him our chances have fallen.
Also have no idea what is wrong with his shoulder. So far have not heard if he needs a op or what. Anyhow he is back home and that is a shame. He was in brilliant form. Like always he gives 100%. Fransie is world class. We just don’t have any in his class in the whole of SA to play 12.
Now we have our 3 best wings probably out with injury too.
We should never ever play Samoa again. Must refuse to do so. They don’t deserve respect at all. Just a bunch of thugs.
Peter said that the Samoans were targeting Burger and Fransie all game long. They were also dragging Burger at one point out of the ruck by his hair. Then right in front of Barnes punched Burger. How Barnes done nothing is a mystery.
How the Ref Owens was rewarded for comeplete uselessness to ref a quarter final is just mind boggling. Also why was a kiwi ref appointed to ref the Oz/Bok game? Don’t agree with that at all.
Paddy should have dropped Owens right out of this world cup for that dreadful reffing on Friday and brought in Mark Lawrence that SHOULD have been reffing in this world cup.
Just one man’s, Pat Cully, opinion. A journalist whose job is to create talking points. On top of that he is an Aussie for who kak talk is an art form.
@ Puma:
Hello Pumes,all well this side thx, picking the wife up from the airport tomorrow, ‘ham-dil-lelah’!
Bru, can’t tell you how I feel about those Samo throat-slitters, bloody disgraceful bunch of low-lifes they are.
Guess we will just have to release our anger on their half-brothers from LongCloudIslands now, bliksems…
Btw, I have some of that brew of yours fizzing along nicely, some champers for wife’s arrival party 🙂
Also as a Shark supporter I really don’t rate Bryce Lawrence. He has cost my Sharks many times with really bad reffing.
He was also the ref that blew us in the scrum with that absolutely stupid ‘Touch Pause – You moved it is Dangerous’ saying it to Beast and penalty against us for no reason at all. When we had not even engaged yet. So don’t hold your breath. This is not the best ref and especially a kiwi reffing this game I don’t agree with it.
@ Puma:
Yip, Disgraceful from the Samoans. I think the Boks handled it admirably. They knew what was coming and had planned for it. Well done from management. Just a pity about Fransie. If Hougie had not gotten hurt, Fransie would have been subbed by JdV and would have been safe. But that’s life. You can only plan so much, thereafter the dice roll where they may.
@ Pietman:20 – Piet..hehe. Good that you making that champers. Easy to make and quite good too.
We do have to beat Oz first to play ABs. Not as confident of beating them as I was before we lost Fransie. With him there felt very confident to beat Oz. Now not so sure with them having their best players back too. WE have to keep the discipline. I tell you Bryce not the best ref and he will nail us just like has has done a few times to my Sharks. He cost the Sharks a few games in the past.
Yeah agree with the Samoans really feel angry how they tried to hurt us. They did and we now 4 players down.
@ Puma:
Time for to FduP to step up and take over against Oz, he must dictate the game like only he can.
Our half-backs have been utterly kuk thusfar, time to earn their keep.
I don’t expect much from Morne besides putting the ball between those poles 5/5 and hoisting aimless u&u’s, that’s all he’s good for anyway; but FdP must really come to the party now, against Genia. He has been loafing around long enough….
@ The_Young_Turk:22 – Yes just what I said on keo. Saw JdV and Hougaard warming up and thought they were gonna take Fransie off cause he was being targeted all game long. Then Hougaard came on first and got knocked out straight up. Pity that cause if had not we would still have Fransie.
Without him I am not really confident. Oz will target our 10-12 channel all game long now. Also if we get through Nonu will be waiting. With Frans there doubt they would get through. He is a massive loss. Think our best bet now is to play Butch at 12 and not JdV.
Who will play wing?
I would play JdV and Spies there. Bring in Alberts for 8.
@ Pietman:
Yip bru, we are really missing our best player. He’s been on the field, but he’s not been playing. If he can rediscover some form, I think the cup is ours.
@ Pietman:24 – Piet, Morne had better step up. He played well with Frans there but without Frans I have doubts again with Morne at fh.
Butch will have to play inside centre to cover that channel now. JdV not the best. Also with Butch there our wings may see some ball, but doubt we gonna play a attacking game.
Who for wing? Our best are out injured.
@ Puma:
Don’t think it’s necessary to worry about our wings yet, Puma. They have ample time to recover and Hougie has himself said he is fine, so don’t take all the media speculation too seriously. Remember now is the time when rumours and kak talk are flying wild.
@ Pietman:24 – Agree with FdP. Hope this is the game he has a blinder.
So if Hougaard is still concussed then I see Ruan on the bench this week. WE have to have cover for sh. What a massive blow too to lose Hougaard. He was awesome this wc.
@ The_Young_Turk:28 – I know Hougaard will say he is fing. He is like a Pit Bull Terrier….hehehe. Can’t keep him down…hahaha. Jokes aside if he is suspected of having concussion he can’t play IRB rules. So just have to see.
From what I read JPP looks the worsed with a knee injury and Habs has a hemotoma. Can’t play with a hematoma. They can take awhile to desolve. Well maybe with good physio working on it, it could go quicker.
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