Rugby World Cup: My Team of the Tournament.

Picking a “Team of the Tournament” will always throw up controversy as people always have differing opinions on players, tactics, form, favourites and bias. That’s part of the fun though. Here is my Team of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. I know people will disagree with some of the selections. Please add your comments on who you would have picked instead.

First XV

Props – Tony Woodcock (NZ) and Nicolas Mas (Fra).

Hooker – Bismark du Plessis (SA)

Second Row – Brad Thorn (NZ) and Dannie Rossouw (SA)

Blind Side – Jerome Kaino (NZ)

Number 8 – Nick Easter (ONLY JOKING!!) Imanol Harinordoquy (Fra)

Open Side – David Pocock (Aus)

Scrum Half – Mike Philips (Wal)

Fly Half – Rhys Priestland (Wal)

Inside Centre – Jamie Roberts (Wal)

Outside Centre – Aurelien Rougerie (Fra)

Wingers – Richard Kahui (NZ) and George North (Wal)

Fullback – Israel Dagg (NZ)

Yes, I imagine your first observation will be there are a lot of New Zealand players in the team. I have chosen this side based on who I felt played the best rugby of the tournament consistently. It is therefore more a collection of individuals rather than a cohesive side based on combinations, philosophy and tactics. Were I to consider that then there would be changes here and there (and possibly the subject of a future blog post).

I could have also picked out a 2^nd XV. Having watched nearly every match of the Tournament ( even at 1am) there are a large number of players worthy of a mention. Other players I considered were Adam Jones, Kevin Mealamu, Luke Charteris, Ritchie McCaw, the entire Tongan front row, Thierry Dusautoir, Sam Warburton, Cory Jane, George Stowers and Sonny Bill Williams. There are of course many others whose performances have significantly added to my overall enjoyment of the last 6 weeks of rugby.

The next 12 months will bring some interesting international rugby. I expect the Welsh to be going into the 2012 6 Nations as favourites and with the emergence of a number of talented young players  that tag is fully deserved. Will any of the numerous question marks hanging over the RFU be answered? At the last count there were 5 separate reviews going on into varying aspects of the running of the game from HQ.

2012 will also see Argentina’s introduction to the Tri-Nations. It is great to see the IRB helping to develop the sport for countries that don’t get to play a great deal of international rugby. I hope that this ethos continues and the Tier 2 nations such as Georgia, Japan, Russia and Romania who put in some cracking and enjoyable performances in this years tournament can benefit.