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Umaga v O'Driscoll
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<blockquote data-quote="BigTen" data-source="post: 85070"><p>Interesting argument there, Serge. And one that I can hardly agree with it.</p><p></p><p>By saying that O' Driscoll was a gamebreaker for an average team is not really a compliment. Anyone that was a decent international player would be a gamebreaker in an average team.</p><p></p><p>Umaga was a key member of a very good All Black side and that meant that he was a superstar. Anyone that ever saw him play would always notice that the amount of work that he did off the ball was massive and he retired whilst at the top of his game - something that not many players actually do.</p><p></p><p>Check out Umaga's try rates and compare them to O'Driscoll (I believe that Umaga finished on 36 tries from 74 test matches) and by international standards that is pretty impressive. Also surely it is harder to score loads of tries when you are surrounded by other quality players then if you are the only gamebreaker. And you can't forget that Umaga also helped set up loads of tries.</p><p></p><p>Another thing to note is that no nation has a better head-to-head ratio against the All Blacks when Umaga was playing and I think that that speaks volumes. The All Blacks were simply too tough to stop when Umaga was playing making him a winner in any language.</p><p></p><p>Even though I do rate O'Driscoll as a quality centre - certainly one of the best in the business I do think that Umaga edges him (and I am biased).</p><p></p><p>However O'Driscoll is still playing and time may prove that he becomes a better centre.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BigTen, post: 85070"] Interesting argument there, Serge. And one that I can hardly agree with it. By saying that O' Driscoll was a gamebreaker for an average team is not really a compliment. Anyone that was a decent international player would be a gamebreaker in an average team. Umaga was a key member of a very good All Black side and that meant that he was a superstar. Anyone that ever saw him play would always notice that the amount of work that he did off the ball was massive and he retired whilst at the top of his game - something that not many players actually do. Check out Umaga's try rates and compare them to O'Driscoll (I believe that Umaga finished on 36 tries from 74 test matches) and by international standards that is pretty impressive. Also surely it is harder to score loads of tries when you are surrounded by other quality players then if you are the only gamebreaker. And you can't forget that Umaga also helped set up loads of tries. Another thing to note is that no nation has a better head-to-head ratio against the All Blacks when Umaga was playing and I think that that speaks volumes. The All Blacks were simply too tough to stop when Umaga was playing making him a winner in any language. Even though I do rate O'Driscoll as a quality centre - certainly one of the best in the business I do think that Umaga edges him (and I am biased). However O'Driscoll is still playing and time may prove that he becomes a better centre. [/QUOTE]
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