Best World XV of the Professional Era?

thirdmantackle

Myself and a few pals are having a heated debate for the past weeks about picking the best World XV since the dawn of the full international professional set up - which happened in 1995

here is my selection

1 Wood (Ire)
2 Vickery (Eng)
3 Os du Randt (SA)
4 Johnston (Eng)
5 Smith (Aus)
6 McCaw (NZ)
7 Magne (Fra)
8 Dallaglio (Eng)
9 Vand Der Westhuizen (SA)
10 Carter (NZ)
11 Lomu (NZ)
12 Horan (Aus)
13 O'Driscoll (Ire)
14 Caucau (Fiji)
15 Cullen (NZ)

davyjose

Wood is a Hooker; McCaw Openside, and no I would not put vickery or magne ahead of either those two respectively.

thirdmantackle

twas hard to fit them all in... and i might have mixed up a few of the positions!

damnyanks

Was Cullen ever really good? Obviously he was to NZ's standard but wasnt he just an average good player (if that makes sense)

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

damnyanks wrote:

Was Cullen ever really good? Obviously he was to NZ's standard but wasnt he just an average good player (if that makes sense)

http://www.houseofharry.com/WordPress/?page_id=4

Sandwich

damnyanks wrote:

Was Cullen ever really good? Obviously he was to NZ's standard but wasnt he just an average good player (if that makes sense)

Yes he was amazingly good and for me has no peer as an attacking full back. Defensively its harder to say, given that he played on such good teams.

Goodluck2me

mehrtens was a class act too to be fair to him. i would have campese in there too. i also Rate wilko higher than Carter now, he was an absolute class act, no doubting carters as he is so very close but wilko def the best iv seen so far. De Villiers for propb too, wood to hooker.

smashey

Cullen at his peak was the best. I think with Wilkinson and Carter you could go with either. I would put Joe Roff on the wing.

damnyanks

georgiecasey wrote:

http://www.houseofharry.com/WordPress/?page_id=4

Stand corrected

TarfHead

damnyanks wrote:

Was Cullen ever really good?

In 1996 & 1997, he was THAT good.

I recall a 3N game in NZ in 1997 against AUS. AUS knocked up a hopeful punt and Zinzan Brooke claimed it in the air. When his feet hit the gound, he fired out a 20 yard no-look pass and Cullen took it at full pace. He was 20 yards behind the AUS cover before any of them (& 13 ABs) realised what the F was happening. A couple of seconds later he was touching down under the posts with a sheepish look on his face.

In 1998 he was still the best player in the world. Then came the 1999 RWC and John Hart and it's been downhill ever since. In the professional era, only Chris Latham has come close at 15 ... IMHO.

EDIT: just checked out those links after posting above - this is what I was recalling ..
http://www.houseofharry.com/cullen24.html

Sandwich

Tend to agree with Wilko supporters over Carter. When fit JW was always outstanding (apart from one bad day in Paris, but you're allowed one off day). Have we seen Carter under pressure, or with his team around him struggling, rising above to turn a game on his own? Thats the real test.

Also, great scrummager, but was DuRandt really a complete player.

Also, I would agree to include Campo, even tho I think he just about scrapes into the pro era restriction.

Would love to see what a similar NZ/Aus/SA poll would come up with - I bet it wouldnt have a fraction (or zero) of the northern hemisphere players that we regard highly.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

Sandwich wrote:

Would love to see what a similar NZ/Aus/SA poll would come up with - I bet it wouldnt have a fraction (or zero) of the northern hemisphere players that we regard highly.

There was a thread like this on planet rugby but I can't find it coz they're search is so crap. But you're right, they didn't include much NH at all

daveirl

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chicoben

latham is a quality player, plus he only started playin rugby at a late age, phil vickery? ha ha ha,

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

Heres my list coz Im bored

1 Tony Woodcock - cant think of any other props really
2 Keith Wood
3 Carl Hayman
4 John Eales - O'Connell was close. Is there any diff between 4 and 5?
5 Victor Matfield
6 Schalke Burger
7 George Smith - McCaw close
8 Zinzan Brooke
9 Georgie Gregan
10 Carlos Spincer - Carters too boring, having seen enough of Wilkinson
11 Jonah Lomu
12 Tim Horan
13 Brian O'Driscoll
14 Tana Umanga
15 Christian Cullen

RuggieBear

tbh, you can tell the age of some of you guys just by looking at the teadms you are picking!!! lol:p

I'll have a little think and post up later

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

haha. well, i dont know about age but i haven't been following rugby for long, im a blowin

Goodluck2me

i think if it was the "favourite world XV" i would have

10. Andy Goode (sound of him in twickers wasnt it)

evil_seed

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

exactly

TarfHead

georgiecasey wrote:

11 Jonah Lomu

Seriously ?
IMHO the guy was just a brand.
Couldn't defend
Couldn't kick
Never scored against SA

Surely there were better left wings in 10 years of professional rugby ?
e.g. Jason Robinson, Ben Tune/Joe Roff, Christophe Dominici to name but a few ?

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

He was a terrible defender all right but how many tries did he create out of nothing. And he would have a good partnership with Cullen

Hippo

TarfHead wrote:

Seriously ?
IMHO the guy was just a brand.
Couldn't defend
Couldn't kick
Never scored against SA

The guy was utterly awesome, tied up at least 3 defenders every time he got the ball. Worth his weight etc....

daveirl

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davyjose

daveirl wrote:

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He changed the game. He helped redifine the physical attributes required by backs to play the game. And I firmly believe a twenty year old lomu would have had the abilities required to play today. Someone showed a Cullen try earlier in the post; amazing try, but there's no chance of scoring that sort of try in the game we play today.
Also TBH i wouldn't be that keen on Caucau, for outright talent yes. But look at his carry on in the AI's - who needs a clown like that, when you can have a Sivuvatu, RokoCoko, Robinson or Campese (I checked - he played in the pro era - maybe not at his best, but nobody said they had to be, and Zinzan's there). I'd have Campese.

thirdmantackle

australia were professional from the late '80s on anyway

full professionalism was only 'allowed' around the world in 1995

davyjose

Ah yeah I remember hearing that. Right, Campese it is then