The greatest World Rugby XV of all-time

Regardless of Stats 1. Os Du Randt (SA) 2. Dane Coles (NZ) 3. Carl Hayman (NZ) 4. Victor Matfield (SA) 5. John Eales (AUS) 6. Michael Jones (NZ) 7. Josh Kronfeld (NZ) 8. George Smith (AUS) 9. Joost Van Der Westhuizen (SA) 10. Stephen Larkham (AUS) 11. Jonah Lomu (NZ) 12. Tim Horan (AUS) 13. Jason Little (AUS) 14. Doug Howlett (NZ) 15. Christian Cullen (NZ) Bench: Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Nick Farr-Jones, Matt Burke

I think that Dan Carter from NZ would have been well and truely in line for the number 10 position as he is the highest points scorer.

(15) Christian Cullen (NZL) (14) Rupeni Caucau (FIJI) (13) Phillipe Sella (Fra) (12) Tim Horan (AUS) (11) Jonah Lomu (NZL) (10) Mark Ella (Aus) (9) Edwards (Wales) (8) Brooke (NZL) (7) Jones (NZL) (6) Hill (Eng) (5) Matfield (SA) (4) Johnston (Eng) (3) Lennard (Eng) (2) Fitzpatrick (NZL) (1) Du Rant (SA) Reasons? The best backs of all time are the kiwis, welsh, French and Aussies and caucua is simply the most devastating runner ever seen on a rugby pitch just type his name in to YouTube and you will soon agree. Lomu in Shane Williams boots. England, South Africa and New Zealand have the most dominant packs and I'd say this team holds the best balance of any on this page.

here are three try chris laidlaw,super sid going and dave loveridge all three great ABs half backs and sid minced gareth edwards every time they played

This team is much better than the one suggested. I mean Francois Pienaar for goodness sake. He would not even be on the list of the best 1000 flankers! The author must definately be from England. Your team would kick his team's bottom.

15: Christian Cullen (the ACTUAL greatest attacking fullback in Rugby History) 14. Rupeni Caucaunibuca - Equal most dangerous winger ever next to Jonah 13. Brian O'Driscoll - Long Lasting, durable, tough smart centre 12. Ma'a Nonu - Ever team needs a game breaker. If you dont agree, youtube him and be amazed 11. Jonah Lomu - Unstoppable Juggernaut. Best combonation of size+speed+strength ever seen in sports 10. Daniel Carter - It is an insult to Rugby to have anybody else. 9. George Gregan - Hungry, skilled player, leader, arrogant barstard! 8. Zinzan Brooke - All round player 7. Sir Richie McCaw - Leader, ruck wizard 6. Schalk Burger - Has absolutly no regard for his or opponents bodies, mongrel. 5. John Eales - Aussie Legend 4. Colin Meads - Kiwi Legend 3. Jason Leonard - Typical prop 2. Sean Fitzpatrick - Rough touch hooker 1. Os Du Randt - Bulldozer man mountain, solid scrum Written by a staunch AB fan that can appreciate other countries great players!

I am only 16 years old and i live in New Zealand,so i dont know all these old school players but this is my best ever team..... 1.Os Du Randt(RSA) 2.Sean Fitzpatrick(NZ)-Vice Captain 3.Carl Hayman(NZ) 4.Martin Johnson(ENG) 5.John Eales(AUS)-Captain 6.Michael Jones(NZ) 7.Richie McCaw(NZ) 8.Zinzan Brooke(NZ) 9.George Gregan(AUS) 10.Dan Carter(NZ)-Kicker 11.Jonah Lomu(NZ) 12.Tana Umaga(NZ) 13.Stirling Mortlock(AUS) 14.Jeff Wilson(NZ) 15.Chritian Cullen(NZ)

carling v o driscoll no contest . this must b an english thing .

Simply put, the Welsh team of the 70s is the greatest team of all time. But I've thrown in a few other Welshmen I feel deserved a place. 15. JPR Williams 14. Gerald Davies 13. John Dawes 12. Scott Gibbs 11. Ieuan Evans 10. Barry John 9. Gareth Edwards 8. Mervyn Davies 7. John Taylor 6. Dai Morris 5. Geoff Wheel 4. Delme Thomas 3. Graham Price 2. Bryn Meredith 1. Denzil Williams

First time I've ever come across this site but if this is the best the "expert" can do then I can't see me coming back - although nice to see so many informed and excellent comments from various contributors. My tuppence worth anyway - with a huge bias towards the 1970s to the present day, (since I started watching and playing): 15 - JPR WIlliams, (Blanco not far behind BUT JPR was the complete fullback) 14 - Gerald Davies 13 -Danie Gerber 12 - Phillipe Sella 11 - David Campese 10 - Barry John - just shades Bennett and Porta 9 - Gareth Edwards - no arguments - simply the greatest 8 - Wayne Shelford 7 - Michael Jones 6 - Richard Hill 5 - John Eales 4 - Martin Johnson, (Capt) 3 - Graham Price 2 - Sean Fitzpatrick 1 - Ian McLaughlan Apologies to Colin Meads who by common consent should make most all time XVs but I never saw him play so feel unable to offer any real informed opinion about him. O'Driscoll would be close to the team too, (I never really rated Gibson), Duckham also gets close as do Zin Zan Brooke and Mervyn Davies. I was struggling for front row forwards - the mysteries of front row play a bit beyond a humble back!

laughable. Christian Cullen is far and away the greatest fullback the game has seen - speed , strength. Mervyn Daviesw over Zinzan Brooke is stupid.Lomu was clumsy. NZ has had at least two better right winders than Campese. Jeff Wilson, John Kirwan? Frank Bunce is obviously stronger and more robust than Philippe Sella.

HI , IVE BEEN LOOKING THROUGH THE CHOSEN TEAMS AND WOULD LIKE TO PICK A TEAM OF MY OWN . YOUR TEAMS ARE GOOD , FOR SOME THE SPRINGBOKS TEAMS YOU HAVE CHOSEN WILL GIVE ANYBODY EVEN TODAY A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY. WELL HERES MY GREATEST SPRINGBOK TEAM 15 . ANDRE JOUBERT 14 .MANNETJIES ROUX HE WAS A FIGHTER PILOT 13 DANIE GERBER 12 MICHEAL DU PLESSIS < NOBODY HAD BETTER HANDS THEN OLD MALLES 11 CAREL DU PLESSIS < PRINCE OF WINGS 10 HENRY HOINBALL THE NAME SAYS IT ALL 9 JOOST VAN DER WESTUIZEN < GUTS GUTS AND MORE GUTS 8 GARY TEICHMAN < LEGEND CAPTAIN 7 RUBEN KRUGER < THE HARDEST WORKER ON THE RUGBY FIELD 6 JAN ELLIS <ALLROUND GREAT RUGBY PLAYER 5 FRIK DU PREEZ 4 MARK ANDREWS ,< GREAT AT LINE OUTS 3 MOF MYBURG 2 PISTON VAN WYK 1 OS DU RAND < CAUSE HE IS A LEGEND OF PURE POWER RESERVES NAAS BOTHA ANDRE SNYMAN DANIE CRAVEN TIAAN STRAUS BALIE SWART CHRIS RESSOUW BOY LOUW

Another thing, New Zealanders will say Colin Meads is the greatest player ever as soon as any Aussie would tell you Bradman was the best cricketer ever. Yet Frik du Preez was rated by Colin Meades, Benoit Dauga and Willie-John as the best lock of their era, notwithstanding the fact that he was smaller and shorter than all of them. Gareth Edwards once said that of all the South African forwards he ever saw, du Preez stood head and shoulders above the rest. The simple truth is that every country has their share of greats and a way of remembering them. I've heard South Africans SWEAR Frik du Preez is the best player ever. New Zealanders get upset if you say Colin Meads isn't the best ever. And then in places like England, if you dare to omit Martin Johnson from an all-time side you're wrong, no question. Forget that Johnson played in the era of Eales, Jones, Brooke, Andrews, and players like Meads and u Preez played in the era of McBride, Mias and Dauga... or that a man named Gordon Brown became a legendary Lion. Nope Martin Johnson has to be included or it's not a real side!

It's interesting that in his autobiography 'Mud in your eye', Chris Laidlaw says that Ken Catchpole is the greatest ever halfback. He compares him to Gareth Edwards and Sid Going and unhesitatingly names Catchy the best halfback he ever saw. In 'They came to Conquer', reports of the 1964 series to New Zealand say that Catchpole outplayed Laidlaw in that series. We accept that Gareth Edwards is the greatest halfback ever without questioning it. 50 years from now people may well unhesitatingly name Jonah Lomu in their all-time sides based on his reputation, when really, he's not close.

van der Merwe...nice team. I would go this way..it would be a nice game.......your guys first, followed by mine: 1. Boy Louw/Os du Randt 2. Gys Pitzer/Gys Pitzer 3. Jaap Bekker/Spiere du Toit 4. Frik du Preez/Frik du Preez 5. Johan Claassen/Victor Matfield 6. Piet Greyling/Piet Greyling 7. Andre Venter/Jan Ellis 8. Hennie Muller/Gary Teichman or Morne du Plessis 9. Joost van der Westhuizen/Joost 10. Keith Oxlee/Henry Honiball 11. Carel du Plessis/Brian Habana 12. Mannetjies Roux/Jean de Villiers 13. Danie Gerber/Danie Gerber 14. Jannie Engelbrecht/Ray Mordt 15. Gerrie Brand/Andre Joubert or HO de Villiers

A fine team James. Some choices would be determined by the type of game one wishes to play. For example does one want wings who can play in the back three? Campese and Lomu couldn't defend. Do you want a running fullback like Blanco or an impassable defensive fullback who was tricky, like JPR. I think having won a World Cup counts. I would make these changes. vd Westhuizen ahead of Edwards, 38 international tries, a World Cup, and he could cut Lomu down in full stride. Edwards wouldn't have been able too. Danie Gerber walks in. Kirwan ahead of Campese because the one would kill the other head to head. And remember Ray Mordt scored 3 tries in NZ vs the ABS...a complete and stunning skillful and brutal wing. And Habana equalled Lomu's RWC try record. Porta at flyhalf. Many ahead of Pienaar (even Boks like Burger, or Greyling), but kudos on recognizing his phenomenal contribution to rugby. Some great players not mentioned were Syd Going, Cullen, Kirkpatrick, du Preez. You had 9 Southern Hemisphere players, which is at least the amount just based on World Cup wins and international records. You only had one joke in the team...Will Carling. Lomu anihilated him. Any Bok, even a prop or lock, from the 1995 team would have filled that slot better than him, because they all tackled him.

Thanks for your selections van de Merwe. Oxlee sounds like my kind of player. While I do concede that Botha could run a backline when he wanted to, I can honestly say without exaggerating, that Botha kicked about 90% of the time on the Caveliers tapes I have! Oxlee sounds like more my kind of five-eighth - a player looking to create space for the running outside of him by drawing defenders towards him. As for Jaap Bekker - what a legend! I thought I'd have a crack at Wales since they'd be easier than Ireland for me. WALES 1. Charlie Faulkner 2. Bobby Windsor 3. Graeme Price 4. Delme Thomas 5. Roy John 6. John Taylor 7. Ivor Jones 8. Mervyn Davies 9. Gareth Edwards 10. Cliff Morgan 11. Ieuan Evans 12. Bleddyn Williams 13. Scott Gibbs 14. Gerald Davies 15. JPR Williams Subs: Ray Prosser (prop), Bryn Meredith (hooker), Rob Norster (lock/flanker) Derek Quinnell (flanker), Rob Howley (halfback), Barry John (five-eighth), John Dawes (centre) Considering the rich history of Welsh rugby, I’m actually pretty happy with my selections. I suspect most people would select the Pontypool Front Row in most all-time Welsh XV’s, although that’s not to take away from what Meredith accomplished in the 50s. I see Frank Keating picked Bryn Meredith in his all-time XV side. Prosser was a famous Lions in the late 50s and sounds like quite a character. Delme Thomas was a simple enough choice for me, yet shockingly Keating omitted him from his all-time XV. It’s interesting that Gareth Edwards makes no mention of Thomas in his book ‘100 great rugby players’. He does mention Roy John though. Norster is twice a Lions player, something I don’t think Thomas achieved in the era of Brown and McBride (I could be wrong there), but Steve Cutler dominated the Welsh line-out in 1984 to such an extent that I’m putting him on the bench. I’m pretty happy with the backrow. Quinnell makes the bench for shutting Sid Going down in 1971 – a crucial thing to happen if the Lions were to win that series. Gareth Edwards was a simple enough choice. Rob Howley’s an interesting case to look at. I recently purchased a DVD called ‘Up Close and Personal with the Lions’ – a look at the terrific 2001 series between Australia and the British and Irish Lions. The DVD is choc-full of highlights. One showed a game the Lions played against Western Australia. Now obviously they weren’t any competition for the Lions, but Howley did score an opportunistic try that is reminiscent of some of the highlights I’ve seen of Gareth Edwards sniping around the ruck. Martin Johnson once said the Welsh have put a mythical status on Edwards and that Howley was nearly as good – there may be some truth to that. In that first Test Howley completely outplayed George Gregan, and it wasn’t until the second half of the second game that Gregan really rose to the occasion (watching highlights of Gregan reminded me of how terrific he was back in 2001). If the ball spewed out of the ruck and rolled away, Howley could clean it up in one quick motion. No wind up – he’d time a dive on the ball and flick it out to his stand off in one swift motion. The Welsh say if he played behind a better pack, he’d be a legend of the game. On the basis of his performances for the Lions, I think it’s safe to say they’re right. Howley was sorely missed in that third and final game. Howley eclipses two other contenders – Haydn Tanner and Terry Holmes. You fall where you fall when selecting great Welsh flyhalfs. On another day I could pick Barry John in the starting side or Phil Bennett. Some things Gareth Edwards has written on both men gives me the impression he thought Barry John was slightly better. I toyed with the idea of putting Bennett on the bench since he played just about anywhere in the Welsh backline before Barry John retired. The centres were a little difficult. Spiro mentions Dr Jack Matthews, whom I omitted since Bleddyn Williams is generally more spoken about. John Dawes was part of arguably the greatest backline ever – the 1971 Lions, and hence I considered him. There were other names I could have dug up, but I don’t think they were quite as distinguished as those mentioned above. I went with Scott Gibbs because while John Dawes was part of the famous Lions, Gibbs was the player of the 1997 series and also scored arguably the greatest individual try in Welsh history in 1999. Will Carling rated him very highly because he was so hard to bring down. Gerald Davies commands one wing, but there is so much competition for the other wing.- the main contenders for me were Ken Jones, JJ Williams, Ieuan Evans, and Shane Williams (who I’m a huge fan of). I went with Evans partly because I’m influenced by two tries I saw on youtube that Evans scored. Unbelievable tries. Wales may have the best history of great wingers and as well as the best history of flyhalfs. Who else is going to play fullback but the man who played as a flanker against Australia? There's no possible way I could do an all-time XV for Argentina. I'd have loved to have seen Topo Rodriguez's selections for that side (so long as he put himself in there). I could do France, but the sides wouldn't look too different from what has already been posted. Ireland is still too difficult for me.

I asked a French rugby fan to pick his country's all-time XV, and while he couldn't separate a few players, here's what he came up with: 15. Serge Blanco 14. Christian Dominici 13. Philippe Sella 12. Yannick jauzion - André Boniface 11. Patrice Lagisquet 10. Titou Lamaison 9. Jérôme Gallion - Berbizier 8. Walter Spanghero 7. Jean Prat 6. Jean-Pierre Rives 5. Benoit Dauga 4. Fabien Pelous 3. Robert Paparemborde 2. Philippe Dintrans 1. Christian Califano as reserve : Abdellatif Benazzi, Eric Champ, Daniel Dubroca, Philippe saint André, Raphael Ibanez and De Villiers

Frank I don't claim to have nearly as much knowledge as I would like on the subject, but I'll give it a shot, just for fun. Note: no players currently active were chosen. (you have to wait a few years before you become an all time great...) 1. Boy Louw 2. Gys Pitzer 3. Jaap Bekker 4. Frik du Preez 5. Johan Claassen 6. Piet Greyling 7. Andre Venter 8. Hennie Muller 9. Joost van der Westhuizen 10. Keith Oxlee 11. Carel du Plessis 12. Mannetjies Roux 13. Danie Gerber 14. Jannie Engelbrecht 15. Gerrie Brand Front row: Definitely the hardest to pick of all positions. I decided to pick each player from a different era. Louw from the 30s, Bekker from the mid 50s, and Pitzer from the late 60s. Louw's longevity was remarkable for its time (he overtook Bennie Osler's 17 Test record) and, of course, he was part of the "Greatest ever Springbok" side. Enough has been said here about Bekker. I particularly like the story about him biting a chunk out of Cliff Davies ear. Pitzer, along with Myburgh and Marais formed the strongest frontrow combination of its time. Secondrow: Enough said about Frik. I couldn't really think of any lifting era player that stood out. Even In the 90s during South Africa's short bouts of being #1 their lineout was probably second or third best in the world. Flanks: The twenty odd test combination of Ellis/Greyling takes some beating. I decided to replace Ellis with the relatively modern Venter. One of the hardest flanks in modern rugby (he once played a full game with a broken rib), for me, Andre personifies what the modern SA 7 should be - a strong, powerful ball carrier and tackler, and a force in the lineout. Backs: Joost was the most devastating attacking scrumhalf ever, in my view. His solo effort against England must surely rank as one of the best, if not the best, tries by a halfback ever. Besides his breaks, he could also tackle like a demon. Oxlee - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19980907/ai_n14166170 The wings were quite a pickle to select. In the end, I opted for the prince of wings (not coaches) and Engelbrecht (had an amazing swerve). Roux and Gerber were no-brainers. I considered the classy Lionel Wilson and HO de Villiers. Andre Joubert is pretty over-rated. Ultimately, I decided to go with Gerrie Brand. His 55 yard penalty kick to put the Springboks ahead against the All Blacks in the second Test psychologically won the game and series there and then (or so Craven says). His 209 points in 26 games on the tour was something of a record, at one point.

Frank, I've run out of time, or perhaps motivation at the moment. I would love to catch up wit you one day, & pick your brain, knowledge, experience, etc. perhaps I'll give you the remainder of my selections off-line, when I return from hols.