If I was to pick any players in history in their prime, to play today's game, it would be -
1. Os du Randt - Won 2 RWC medals 12 years a part. Was a very good scrummager and a real character of the Bok team.
2. Keith Wood - Best Forward out of Ireland. Lead from the front.
3. Carl Hayman - Best scrummager of the modern game. Absolute machine.
4. John Eales - The novelty of a lock goal kicking wore off quick, but he won 2 RWC medals, and captained the Wallabies to one of them, so he gets this spot.
5. Victory Matfield - Best lineout opperator in the modern game.
6. Jerry Collins - Greatest hitter in world rugby. Richard Hill and Michael Jones were different types of players, but Jerry Collins will always be the greatest hitter and hard man in rugby history.
7. Richie McCaw - Most capped All Black and AB captain, most influential openside in history.
8. Zinzan Brooke - Defines what the modern loose forward should be. All the skills of a back with the toughness of a forward.
9. George Gregan - 139 test caps. Most annoying twat in rugby history. Best halfback.
10. Daniel Carter - Highest test point scorer. Most tries for a fly half. Averages most points for a Fly half. Andrew Mehrtens, John Barry and Grant Fox have all said they think he's the best, and I agree.
11. Jonah Lomu - No winger was more influential on his day. Never has a 120kg guy run so quickly. Absolute machine.
12. Tana Umaga - Because BOD couldn't play 12. Hard hitter, great passer, great captain, great try scorer. Did it all.
13. Brian O'Driscol - Very skilled player and a good captain. Probably Ireland's best ever back.
14. Jeff Wilson - Really hard choice. People love Campese, and yes he's scored the most tries for a 1st tier country, but he did it in 101 caps. Had Lomu, Cullen, Howlett, Williams and Rokocoko played as many tests, they would have prabably scored more. Wilson scored 44 test tries in 60 tests, while setting up many of Cullen's and Lomu's tries. He had all the skills.
15. Christian Cullen - No player could do what he could do. 46 tries in 58 tests. Highest Tri Nations try scorer. He was brilliant, and he finished at only 26 years old, imagine if he played a few more years injury free.
16. Sean Fitzpatrick - Very good captain. John Smit comes close, but I'd give it to Fitzy.
17. Olo Brown - Pillar of consistancy.
18. Martin Johnson - Captained England to win the RWC, and did it leading from the front
19. Michael Jones - Toss up between him and Richard Hill. Both had an amazing work rate and a real grunt attitude, but Jones was the better ball carrier.
20. Matt Dawson - Was the creativity behind the Wilkinson. I love Kelleher, Pichot and Marshall, but Dawson was the second best scrum half in my opinion.
21. Andrew Mehrtens - Avarages the second most points for a fly half. best passer and kicker I've ever seen. Could run a game like a general and is a real character. 70 caps and 967 test points (more than Stephen Jones and Percy Montgomery has got in 101 caps and 102!)
22. Joe Rokocoko - Not the highest point scorer, and the longer he plays, perhaps the less his legacy will last. But 17 tries in a season, most of which were amazing. Was New Zealand's go to man, and in his prime was something to behold. Howlett, Williams, Campese, Underwood have scored more, but Rokocoko's tries were all ludacris.
People like George Nepia, Collin Meads, John Barry etc have all been ruled out. Yes they were good for the time, but the game is professional now, and the rules have changed. Collin Meads is regarded in NZ as the godfather of rugby, but for a lock he was only 6'2''. I'm taller than him. Ian Jones, Robin Brooke, Martin Johnson and John Eales all had to adapt to lifters in lineouts. They're more worthy in my mind than lock from 1960's, and they'd be better suited for todays game. Campese, Kirwan, Frasier, Stu Wilson were great wings for their time, but if you watch them in todays game, they'd get absolutely burned by players like Habana, Rokocoko and Ngwenya. The game has changed, and you can't realistically predict the potential of past players, and compare them to todays. It wasn't uncommon for a flanker test flanker to be 80kgs as early as 30 years ago. Props would be considered huge at 100kgs 50 years ago. Gareth Edwards was a very good halfback (Sid Going was better), but would he be as good today? Who knows? The role of the Halfback has changed. George Gregan was criticized early in his career for stepping away from the ruck before delivering to the fly half. That has now lead to fly halfs being expected to play a sniping role around the fringes, as apposed to just being crisp passers.
Anyway, that is why I've just chosen players from 95+, as the game and positions have changed in the professional era, to an extent we can't judge accurately on players prior to that.
