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[TRF World XV] Winger - Round 1

World XV Winger (11)

  • Julian Savea (NZL)

    Votes: 18 43.9%
  • Andrew Trimble (IRE)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Maxime Medard (FRA)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Tim Visser (SCO)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Bryan Habana (RSA)

    Votes: 4 9.8%
  • Nick Cummins (AUS)

    Votes: 1 2.4%
  • Mark Cueto (ENG)

    Votes: 4 9.8%
  • George North (WAL)

    Votes: 14 34.1%
  • James O'Connor (AUS)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Charles Piutau (NZL)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    41
  • Poll closed .
The winger's job is to finish. Everything else is secondary. So I'm going to vote for the man who has the best try/game ratio and is also an explosive runner and perfectly adequate defender (I'm looking at you, North) to boot. My vote goes to Mark Cueto. By which I mean Julian Savea.
 
These pretenders getting 4 times the votes Habana is getting.. I've lost faith in TRF.
 
It's amazing that a player of Habana's quality only has 3 votes !!!! I wonder who will win this as North and Savea could probably just be on 11 and 14 with folau at full back what a back three that would be !

yep, that seems to be what the average on TRF would suggest a back 3 to be. Like if we took all the active TRF users and put them in a giant blender, then they would all die.
...
Well I lost the plot there with my example, but basically TRF= North+Savea+Folau, and that would kick a gigantic mammoth's ass.
 
Bryan "Usain Bolt" Habana, baby!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Bryan "Usain Bolt" Habana, baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

Habana was player of the year the year the Boks were almighty and won the RWC and were no.1 world wide...he even recently showed yet again he could create tries out of NOTHING against the Blacks in 2012, and again those two tries against the Blacks in the 2013 TRC "final" in Jo-Burg as the biggest recent examples. But he's had his time...he's currently getting them paychecks in Toulon appreciating the Southeastern Var area of France for warming the bench and showing his face as cameo appearances every odd RCT match...
make way for the young Savea. 1m93 108kg, 23yo. Maori style wing play with monster fends, tackles and speed aplenty. It's him right now, seriously.
 
I went with North primarily because I have seen him play more than Savea. Savea is very good though and watching a few youtube videos, I'd be very tempted to change my vote.
 
No flash but...



...it's the kinda shhit I've seen him do. The idea that a winger scores in moments he absolutely should not. You can't beat that. He'll give you 5 points nobody else can. All by himself. No need to set up your winger in a perfect position for a teamplay finish.
 
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Hmmm Cueto the man who personifies flair sex appeal and shark like instincts or Brian Habana the man who narrowly beat an aged pregnant cheetah in a race where he was given a 150 metre start? He's like a fat version of Caucau
 
Oh Christ. People can talk about the 00's being a golden generation or whatever, but thank god we're past the days when Antony Horgan was near an Ireland panel.
 
Oh Christ. People can talk about the 00's being a golden generation or whatever, but thank god we're past the days when Antony Horgan was near an Ireland panel.

I reckon the 00's were an underachievement. Signs of a golden generation are now and onward.

I picked Julian Savea. Can do what North can do more but is more threatening.
 
I have to disagree tbh, in the old days, but not anymore.

The game has evolved so much that the wingers role has changed hugely.

I agree, the role is larger and I think Shane Williams is much of the reason why. However, the game will never change that much: just as a 9's first attribute should be the ability to pass, a prop to scrummage and an 8 to carry, the first responsibility of a winger, no matter how many other things are ever on their plate, should be finishing.
 
I agree, the role is larger and I think Shane Williams is much of the reason why. However, the game will never change that much: just as a 9's first attribute should be the ability to pass, a prop to scrummage and an 8 to carry, the first responsibility of a winger, no matter how many other things are ever on their plate, should be finishing.

Agree that the first responsibility should be finishing but not just the classic finish.

However with defense getting tighter and more time spent analyzing opposition, wingers now need to be very robust.

Defense out wide is very important as teams now stack loosies and big forwards on the wing so the ability to tackle is a must and not just tackle but get up and try contest the ball and win a turnover.

Ability under the high is another must now, as is the ability to kick and kick tactically.

As union tries to speed up the game and reduce the time not in play all roles will evolve, so being tactically astute in a position where you have the chance of getting isolated quickly is also right up there.

When you talk about the best wingers for me it is not the one with the most tries per game, this is a good measure but that can be reflected by how good the 14 men inside you are, but it is the ability to not only finish the tries that are a must but the insight to score the tries that should not have been scored because you took the right option at the right time by understanding the current flow of the game and being able to adapt.

Another key factor for me is the ability to stop tries from being scored, no point scoring 2 tries a game but being responsible for letting in 4.
 
agreed nzlizard. The winger's role has in deed evolved distinctly, going in the general direction of course of MASS which Rugby as a whole cannot avoid. Just a recent example is in the France Tonga match last November, we concede that try at the last minute because of our rookie Sofiane Guitoune on the wing. He's no little girl, but against stronger Pac Islander wingers out wide just steps away from your try-line, you ARE going to concede 5 or 7 points each time. There's no time or space to concentrate more players there as upper the field, players need to spread and focus on their spots. Man on man. A winger does need the bulk now to keep up with those other bigger guys, or you've got a flaw teams will want to exploit. Simple as that.

I remember Ben Cohen taking out some All-Black into touch at Twickers around 2002 in that big match England won. What would have become of this game if England didn't have Big Ben right there for the intimidating denial ?

People watch Lomu and how exciting he was in the open field breaking 5 guys and then scoring a try, and then another. Sitting props down dry and going in for 5 more. But they sometimes forget his dominance on defense. He would shut down a play. Just shut it down completely. He had the speed to get there, and sure had the power to throw tiny wingers out into touch.

With the huge emphasis on defense these days and the pace at which guys are getting enormous, bulk will become more and more important. If you've got a short guy like Marc Andreu these days, you're taking a gamble, but you will always get that insane speed on the other hand.....but a gamble nonetheless.
 
Guitoune on the wing. He's no little girl, but against stronger Pac Islander wingers out wide just steps away from your try-line, you ARE going to concede 5 or 7 points each time. There's no time or space to concentrate more players there as upper the field, players need to spread and focus on their spots. Man on man. A winger does need the bulk now to keep up with those other bigger guys, or you've got a flaw teams will want to exploit. Simple as that.
Jack Nowell is small and stopped Picamoles every time.
 
Jack Nowell is small and stopped Picamoles every time.
well if you get the legs of course, if you're efficient with that it's good. But let's see Nowell stop Picamoles running straight at him with the try-line a few meters back. And Nowell is stocky. Relatively small but stocky. But a winger isn't supposed to be able to stop Picamoles anyways, not everybody has a Welsh giant backline with Cuthbert and co.
I'm just saying bulk has become a big advantage for wingers, provided they keep their mobility and quickness. George North isn't a slowpoke but he's 110kg and picks people up on his way to the tryline and runs like hell.
 

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