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Today I am going to nominate my New Zealand team, with the picks for their best team from the individual franchises.
Firstly, let’s have a look at the final South African XV selected and thank you all for taking the time to comment and vote.
South Africa’s best Super Rugby XV
Fullback – Andre Joubert (Percy Montgomery out)
Wings – Bryan Habana and Pieter Rossouw (James Small out)
Centre – Jean de Villiers and Jacque Fourie (Andre Snyman out)
First Five – Henri Honiball
Halfback – Joost van der Westhuizen
Number 8 – Joe van Niekirk (Gary Teichmann out)
Flankers – Juan Smith and Schalk Burger (Francois Louw out)
Locks – Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha
Props – Adrian Garvey and Os du Randt
Hooker – Bismarck du Plessis
Moving on now to New Zealand.
Fullback
Selected – Christian Cullen, Ben Smith, Mils Muliana, Leon MacDonald and Doug Howlett.
Christian Cullen for me, no contest in my admittedly biased view.
Wings
Selected- Jonah Lomu, Cory Jane, Jeffrey Wilson, Brendan Laney, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Caleb Ralph, Rico Gear, Joe Rokocoko and Rupeni Caucaunibuca.
Don’t think you can really go wrong with any of these prospects, however one simply cannot look past Jonah Lomu, and I have opted for Jeffrey Wilson on the other wing.
Centres
Selected- Tana Umaga, Conrad Smith, John Leslie and Seilala Mapusua, Richard Kahui, Frank Bunce, Aaron Mauger, Daryl Gibson, Eroni Clarke and Craig Innes.
I am finding it very hard to contain my bias so I am not going to, Tana Umaga and Conrad Smith for me.
First Five
Selected- Beauden Barrett, Nick Evans, Aaron Cruden, Daniel Carter and Carlos Spencer.
There are some fairly useful players here. At the end I couldn’t drag myself away from Daniel Carter.
Halfback
Selected- Piri Weepu, Byron Kelleher, Brendon Leonard, Justin Marshall and Junior Tonu’u.
This was a difficult decision. I really wanted to pick Junior Tonu’u based on the strength of his pass and given the backline I have picked, but in the end I picked Justin Marshall, the safe choice.
Number 8
Selected- Rodney Soialo, Isitolo Maka, Liam Messam, Kieran Read and Zinzan Brooke
Kieran Read or Zinzan Brooke? I just don’t know. Again, a coin toss was employed and Zinzan won.
Flankers
Selected- Chris Masoe, Jerry Collins, Taine Randell, Josh Kronfeld, Marty Holah, Jono Gibbes, Richie McCaw, Rueben Thorn, Michael Jones and Jerome Kaino.
A host of great players but a relatively simple pick in the end, Richie McCaw and Michael Jones.
Locks
Selected – Jason Eaton, Paul Tito, Felipo Levi, Simon Maling, Ian Jones, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Brad Thorn, Robin Brooke, Ali Williams.
I really struggled for some time with this, tossing and turning over preferred combinations and in the end I decided on Sam Whitelock and Robin Brooke.
Props
Selected – Mark Allen, Neemia Tialata, Carl Hoeft, Carl Hayman, Sona Taumalolo, Deacon Manu, Greg Sommerville, Owen Franks, Craig Dowd and Olo Brown.
I simply could not see past the Blues pair of Craig Dowd and Olo Brown.
Hooker
Selected – Andrew Hore, Anton Oliver, Mahonri Schwalger, Mark Hammett and Sean Fitzpatrick
Sean Fitzpatrick is the clear choice for me here and would be my captain.
So to recap.
New Zealand’s best ever Super Rugby XV
Fullback – Christian Cullen
Wings – Jonah Lomu and Jeffrey Wilson
Centres – Tana Umaga and Conrad Smith
First Five – Daniel Carter
Halfback – Justin Marshall
Number 8 – Zinzan Brooke
Flankers – Richie MaCaw and Michael Jones
Locks – Sam Whitelock and Robin Brooke
Props – Craig Dowd and Olo Brown
Hooker – Sean Fitzpatrick (c)
Only rule this time is to pick from the players selected. It’s a straight out vote – players with the most votes get picked.
Over to you Roarers.
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