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RWC All-Star Team Chosen

M

melon

Guest
The most influential Rugby World Cup team from 1987-2003 was chosen yesterday. The panel consisted of John Eales (Australia), Martin Johnson (England), Zinzan Brooke (New Zealand), Philippe Sella (France), Joel Stransky (South Africa) and World Cup sponsor Visa. The team pick consisted of:
  1. Os du Randt (South Africa)
  2. Sean Fitzpatrick (New Zealand)
  3. Phil Vickery (England)
  4. Martin Johnson (England)
  5. John Eales (Australia)
  6. Richard Hill (England)
  7. Michael Jones (New Zealand)
  8. Zinzan Brooke (New Zealand)
  9. Joost van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
  10. Johnny Wilkinson (England)
  11. David Campese (Australia)
  12. Tim Horan (Australia)
  13. Philippe Sella (France)
  14. Jonah Lomu (New Zealand)
  15. Serge Blanco (France)
Great team I say!

Of course there are lots of other players that have missed out. Australians that could have possibly made the squad would include Michael Lynagh and Stephen Larkham at fly-half, as well as George Gregan and Nick Farr-Jones at scrum-half.
 
i'd put grant fox there ahead of wilko on the basis that he isnt english, and he is a far better kicker without the hours of practise. nothing like repaing without sowing aaaahhhhh B)


i thought lomu was an 11? or is he making way for tt pompous arse campese
 
Australians that could have possibly made the squad would include Michael Lynagh and Stephen Larkham at fly-half, as well as George Gregan and Nick Farr-Jones at scrum-half.
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I'd agree on Lynagh in the squad, but not Larkham.

Also, the game has changed alot in 20 years, and doubt half those players even at their best would stand up to most professional players now.

Also no Chabal, he is a class player. No Shane Williams. Personally I'd drop most of the 'panel' and fill their positions with others. No Monty at fulback?

Just seems like a bit slap-dash. Let's pick 15 random world class players which include ourselves and say its the all star team. :%#%#:
 
Yeah i saw the panel debate this team last week. I agree with most of the selections except maybe for Wilkinson.

Anyway you can watch the videos for the debate on youtube by searching for members of the panel or going to http://www.visarugby.com, it was quite interesting to watch.
 
Meh, looks like fun, reckon I`ll give it a bash too:

15- Serge Blanco, 14- David Campese, 13- Phillipe Sella, 12- Tim Horan, 11- Jonah Lomu, 10- Johnny Wilkinson, 9- George Gregan, 8- Buck Shelford, 7- Michael Jones, 6- Apollo Perillini, 5- John Eales, 4- Martin Johnson, 3- Peter Fatialofa, 2- Sean Fitzpatrick, 1- Os Du Randt
 
Don´t forget about John Kirwan, the first BIG winger I´ve ever seen, he deserves being there. And how about Christian Cullen? He did so much damage in so little time.

Id like Hugo Porta being there, at least on the bench.
 
yes how did cullen go at center during the 1999 wc? what if john hart put tana there instead? aw novice lol

hmm i wouldn't have picked wilkinson or campese in there, instead have fox and kirwan in there!
 
I think some of your are forgetting that this is a 1st XV for RWC's since 1987...not a 1st XV for the entire time since.

Only RWC performances are taken into account.
 
John Kirwan played both in 1987 and 1991 rugby World Cups. And he scored maybe the best try in RWC´s history, against Italy.
 
Well, it`s a "most influencial RWC team", isn`t it? And who were more inluencial as wingers during the RWC than Campo and Lomu?

Lomu stands completely alone. 15 tries in the RWC makes him by far and away the tourney`s leading try-scorer. And most of those were against the "bigger" rugby nations- no 6-try romps against the likes of the class of 95 Japan for him, thank you very much. He completely dominated each and every RWC defense he was up against, barring of course the Boks of 95 :D . No way that he can be left out in place of Kirwan.

And then there`s Campo. Player of the tournament in 91, and rightly so. He completely dominated proceedings in 91. In the quarters, Ralph Keyes kicked the conversion of his life, right on full-time, to make Irish eyes smile brightly. And in injury time, it was Campo who broke the line, committed the defense onto himself, and then popped the ball to Lynagh to keep the Wallaby dream alive.

Campo was even more influential in the semi, where first his diagonal run panicked the AB`s, and then his sublime break and no-look pass to Horan killed off all AB resistance.

And of course, Campo also won the final for the Aussies, before a ball was even kicked. By labelling the English gameplan boring. So come final time, England, with their juggernaugt pack and a kicking general in Rob Andrew, decided to unleash their running game, only to realise they`ve half-forgotten how to use it. The Wallabies played the kicking game and won. All thanks to Campo`s brilliance at dealing with the media. Now tell me, how exactly was John Kirwan, great player that he was, more influential in a RWC outcome than that?
 
They must have felt Wilkinson was so influential in Englands WC win. Arguably more so than Larkham or Lynagh. I think i agree with all 15 selections.



And Bokmagic was spot on about Campo. I just wish he wasn't such an arrogant prick.
 
Well, Im not saying that Kirwan SHOULD have been chosen, I just noticed that he wasn´t metioned by anyone, and I think he was really very influential to the sport (was the first modern winger, much bigger than the rest, at the time he was like a monster, competing against 75 kg fast and thin wingers, like Lagisquet, for instance). He was the first, and I thought he deserved some recognition, that´s all. He even won a RWC, something that Lomu couldn´t achieve, scoring in the final. Even if it sounds like blasphemy, I think I´d send Lomu to the bench, now that I think about it.
Anyway, I wouldn´t dare saying the election was wrong, I just wanted to remember some other players that could have made the starting lineup, like Eric Champ, Michael Lynagh, Kirwan, Cullen or Porta. Every single one of them are also the best.

Oh, and Josh Kronsfeld, I forgot about him!
 
Well, Im not saying that Kirwan SHOULD have been chosen, I just noticed that he wasn´t metioned by anyone, and I think he was really very influential to the sport (was the first modern winger, much bigger than the rest, at the time he was like a monster, competing against 75 kg fast and thin wingers, like Lagisquet, for instance). He was the first, and I thought he deserved some recognition, that´s all. He even won a RWC, something that Lomu couldn´t achieve, scoring in the final. Even if it sounds like blasphemy, I think I´d send Lomu to the bench, now that I think about it.
Anyway, I wouldn´t dare saying the election was wrong, I just wanted to remember some other players that could have made the starting lineup, like Eric Champ, Michael Lynagh, Kirwan, Cullen or Porta. Every single one of them are also the best.

Oh, and Josh Kronsfeld, I forgot about him! [/b]
This is the most influential RWC team. Everyone talks about when in the RWC, Jonah Lomu ran over the top of Mike Catt. Not only one of the most memorable moments in RWC games, but in rugby history.

Jonah was massively influential. Those other players may have been wonderful, but not as influential.

However, everyone is entitled to their opinion :)
 
yea! i agree. every kid who picks up rugby sees and dreams of emulating lomu runniong over catt. you don't really hear of them gushing in awe about how kirwan outran the whole italian team
 
I`d be interested to see what you guys think about maybe Apollo Perillini at blindside for Richard Hill? Perellini was absolutely phenomenal in 91 for Samoa, running through brick walls, making monster tackles, and generally destroying the entire Welsh back row in Apia, virtually guaranteeing the Manu passage through to the last 8.

Considering that very few people actually even heard of the Manu- I remember some quirky comments during 91 that at least the whole of Samoa needed to play, not just Western Samoa- their qualification for the last 8 in 91 should really also be considered a helluva influencial moment in RWC history?
 
Michael Jones, David Campese, Jonah Lomu, Tim Horan and Johny Wilkinson all warrant automatic inclusion because they all won "player of the tournament" in their respective years.

I don't think Wilkinson is the best flyhalf to play in a World Cup, but as much as it pains me he should be in the team.
 

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