Best Southern Hemisphere Young Players XV

[Canuck]

Inspired by ImScotty's thread

I'm only including players born in 1992 or after (so guys like Eben Etzebeth or Michael Hooper don't make the cut despite being 22 because they were born in 1991)

1 Thomas du Toit '95 - The future at loosehead for the Boks, has impressed in duty for the Sharks
2 Rhys Marshall '92 - The Chiefs hooker will have to battle promising Nathan Harris (also born in '92) to hold onto the starting job for next year
3 Taniela Tupou '96 - The 135 kg schoolboy has drawn youtube attention for his rampaging runs, still has a lot to learn but size and strength is jawdropping
4 Lood de Jager '92 - The next in line standout second row from SA, has already been called up to Bok training camp
5 Will Skelton '92 - Giant of a man, like all the players on this list still needs to polish his game but has shown the ability to be great
6 Jacques du Plessis '93 - Had a strong season for the Sharks before a broken jaw sidelined him
7 Ardie Savea '93 - Julian's younger brother is already an outstanding player for the Hurricanes. Hindsight; I should have gone with Sam Cane
8 Aidon Davis '94 - The Baby Boks no.8 played well at the JWC, New Zealand's Matt Peni was impressive too. With Luke Whitelock, Arno Botha, Liam Squire and Nizaam Carr, there are lots of promising players born in 1991 that can play no 8 but just miss out on this team due to my completely arbitrary age cut off.

9 TJ Perenara '92 - The powerfully built halfback has already been capped by the ABs
10 Handre Pollard '94 - The reigning Young Player of the Year who started in June for the Boks against Scotland. He narrowly edges out Simon Hickey.
11 Lolagi Visinia '93 - The 1.94m tall Visinia scored 5 tries for the Blues this past season
12 Jan Serfontein '93 - One of the most exciting young players in SA, has been groomed slowly but is expected to have a big impact sooner rather than later
13 Malakai Fekitoa '92 - New Zealand has found it's eventual replacement for Conrad Smith
14 Tevita Li '95 - The exciting 19 year old, scored 3 tries for the Blues in limited appearances
15 Santiago Cordero '93 - Undersized but has terrific pace and stepping ability. Has flashes of brilliance where he looks like he could almost emulate Shane Williams

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

A lot of the current WP/Stormers team was born in 1991 or more recently. Look for us to improve as these guys get experience;

1 S Kitshoff - 1992
2 S Ntubeni - 1991
3 F Malherbe - 1991 - should also make that squad if not for the 1991 cut-off
4 E Etzebeth - 1991 - ... World XV player nevermind world XV youth player
5 R Botha -1992
6 N Carr - 1991 - as you say, would make the cut as a stand-out player for this year if not for that 1 year..
7 S Kolisi - 1991
11 S Senatla - 1993
13 D de Allende - 1991 - had a better season than Serfontein or Visinia but for your cut-off..
14 C Kolbe - 1993
15 J Taute - 1991

These youngsters have already featured prominantly for us and some of them even for the senior test sides in XV (Etzebeth a fixture, Malherbe, Kolisi, Taute all with caps and De Allende would have been if not for untimely injury) and 7's (Senatla scoring for the Blitzbokke to help take gold over NZ in the Commonwealth games final). Add seniors Jean de Villiers, Schalk Burger and Duane Vermeulen and all we need is a 9/10 combination and an actual game plan.. okay, two BIG requirements.. damn.

If only the muppets in charge could've done what they needed to keep Pollard in the Cape.

 

[Big Ewis]

born in 1995 and playing test Rugby...how is that even POSSIBLE ?!!! Baffles me each time, like, 1995..what, the guy's like 13 years old ??

 

[big ginger 8]

Thomas du Toit is the same position and only 7 months older than me, I feel bad now.

I'll take solace in him being a lot bigger...

 

[goodNumber10]

Thomas du Toit is the same position and only 7 months older than me, I feel bad now.

I'll take solace in him being a lot bigger...

 

[Canuck]

Haha. It still boggles my mind to realize that Jonah Lomu was the best player in the world at the age of 20. He's also been retired for 12 years and is still just 39.