Your nations worst XV

[Tomsey]

Sam Norton-Knight played one test for the Wallabies several years ago and was absolutely terrible. I think he through two intercepts that day and they where the only two passes that went to hand. Not great stats for someone playing flyhalf. He is the worst player I can ever remember playing for the Wallabies.

 

[Jer1cho]

1. Lawrence Sephaka
2. Hanyani Shimangi
3. Deon Carstens
4. Quinton Davids
5. Geo Cronje
6. Deon Steggman
7. Jacques Cronje
8. Solly Tiyabilika

9. Ricky Januarie

10. Jaco vd Westhuizen
11. Tinus Delport
12. Meyer Bosman
13. Hmmm We have always had at least a decent 13 I think
14. Also can't think of this one atm.
15. Gaffie du Toit


That's a bad one through mix and matching over the last couple of years.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Over the past 15 or so years.

15 Morgan Stoddart. We have had quite a few poor fullbacks, but most with 1-2 caps. Stoddart has had a few and is poor at FB consistently.
14 Tom James. Quick as hell, but no brain. Needs to stop whinging.
13 Roger Bidgood. I'll try to limit 90's players, as there are too many, but this was necessary.
12 Andy Marinos. How is he the head of SANZAR?
11 Wayne Proctor. Just under 40 caps, must be a record for this list.
10 Arwel Thomas. Shades of brilliance, mostly awful.
9 Rupert Moon. Thank god we had Howley.
8 Andy Powell. Honestly, very poor player. Would have been incredible if Millennium was rotated 90 degrees.
7 Robin Sowden-Taylor. Tough call, decent player who never reached what was thought of him.
6 Jonathan Thomas.
5 Derwyn Jones. Captain. Awful player, how is he an agent?
4 Will James. Classic Gyppo, brings back painful memories.
3 Darren Morris. Was supposed to be a modern prop.
2 Huw Bennett.
1 Christian Loader. Lucky his only competition was Spencer John.

Very harsh on Stoddart. I like Stoddart. Arwell Thomas, too, Dan Biggar's a contendor, but it would be harsh on him as well. And Gareth Cooper should be in there. He was nearing (Is, I suppose, he says he intends to continue playing in a years time.) 50 caps, and was awful for a good 30 or so of them.

And How could anyone suggest Ben Blair as being a 'Worst Ever XV'? He was the Cardiff Blues most consistant player for a good three or four years. Norton-Knight on the other hand... I think he did about five good things in his entire time at the Blues. (Filise's try against Toulose he created was brilliant, and he scored two tries against Newcastle, although this was over his entire time at the club, a whole season.) I felt sorry for him every single time he played.

 

[psychic duck]

14 Tom James. Quick as hell, but no brain. Needs to stop whinging.

Very accurate description,although he's very quick he is a terrible finisher and tackler and as you say no rugby brain

plenty of competition for the place of 'worst winger' though Hal Luscombe and Craig Morgan were both dreadful

10 Arwel Thomas. Shades of brilliance, mostly awful.

I would have Ceri Sweeney ahead here

9 Rupert Moon. Thank god we had Howley.

I didn't see Moon play, but he must of been bad to keep out Cooper (matches played after 2005 Lions tour)

8 Andy Powell. Honestly, very poor player. Would have been incredible if Millennium was rotated 90 degrees.

LOL! perfect description

4 Will James. Classic Gyppo, brings back painful memories.

Officially knew Gareth Jenkins would go after this selection

 

[Sixesandsevens]

Trf Cymro, pretty harsh lions xv there! Ellis was way better than Mike Blair on the 09 tour! Blair had a shocker! Martin Corry was pretty good, Ollie Smith scored a sick try against Argentina... (you can probably have the rest!)

 

[psychic duck]

Oh well, seems me question was poorly conveyed. Anyhoo...

Could somone help me with a Scotland XV, in my mind they're all* international superstars


* Except for Nikki Walker, I dinnae like him. Maybe if he were a lock... nah

15. Brendan Laney/Hugo Southwell
14. Jon Steel/Craig Moir/Craig Joiner/Rory Kerr (take your pick)
13. Nick de Luca (considered Ben MacDougall for the hilarious name, but then decided Nick de Luca's 30 odd caps of rubbish is more deserving, di Rollo lucky not to be included)
12. Rob Dewey (total pants, Henderson and Morrison are poor attackers also)
11. Roland Reid (Scottish Lomu?, yes he really was called that click the link)
10. Phil Godman (Italy 2007)
9. Graeme Beveridge (all other options are good)
1. Alasdair Dickinson (retreating scrummager)
2. Scott Lawson (penalty machine, and couldn't think of anybody else)
3. Craig Smith
4. Iain Fullarton
5. Richard Metcalfe
6. Scott Gray
7. Cameron Mather
8. David Callam

 

[big ginger 8]

Was gonna do this but it's hard to find really crap players for Ireland as we were pretty consistent in selection over the last decades (Where I'd be picking from) it's more we've had a consistent level of not greatness.

I will however say two names. Tomas O'Leary after 6n 2010 and Mr. Tony Buckley.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Was gonna do this but it's hard to find really crap players for Ireland as we were pretty consistent in selection over the last decades (Where I'd be picking from) it's more we've had a consistent level of not greatness.

I will however say two names. Tomas O'Leary after 6n 2010 and Mr. Tony Buckley.

Can't tell if incredibly one eyed or just ignorant of all rugby prior to 2009.

 

[big ginger 8]

Can't tell if incredibly one eyed or just ignorant of all rugby prior to 2009.

Ignorant. Bad memory as well wasn't into rugby before 07 really not glory hunting or anything rugby only pierced my consciousness then cause I moved to a rugby school. Doing it off the top of my head as well what's your team of terrible players then. I was going for properly awful not people who are simply bad but awful.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Ignorant. Bad memory as well wasn't into rugby before 07 really not glory hunting or anything rugby only pierced my consciousness then cause I moved to a rugby school. Doing it off the top of my head as well what's your team of terrible players then. I was going for properly awful not people who are simply bad but awful.

No shame in that, I know for a fact that Ireland were useless in the 90's, but I could only name a handful of players out of those teams. I posted a team 2 pages back from the 00's for shits and giggles.

 

[big ginger 8]

No shame in that, I know for a fact that Ireland were useless in the 90's, but I could only name a handful of players out of those teams. I posted a team 2 pages back from the 00's for shits and giggles.

Yeah I've heard about the awful nineties but was only born halfway through them so obviously can't comment on them.

 

[big ginger 8]

I thought I'd do a 'worst Irish team of the 00's.' I'm gonna do it off the top of my head, so any omissions would be appreciated.

1) Bryan Young - Never good enough. Hardly ML standard. I cringed every time he got on the pitch. Let's forget about him and move on.

2) Frankie Sheehan - Actually quite a useful player, but we were strong at hooker in the 00's . Worse than Wood, Byrne, Flannery and Best so gets it by default. Also, a bloody awful pundit

3) Tony Buckley - Can't scrummage, won't scrummage. Good in the loose, but that's like having a lock who is 4'6 but is a mean kicker. Thank god he's off to Sale. Hopefully it's out of sight, out of mind.

4) Gary Longwell - Meh, not international standard, simple as. Neil Francis seems to think he was only picked to keep Ulster fans happy. Maybe, or maybe not, but I wouldn't have had him in a green shirt regardless.

5) Mick O'Driscoll - As one of my brother's mates says, he's like that embarrassing uncle you don't want to come around for Christmas. I reckon he must be one of the most hated Irish players of the last decade.

6) Neil Best - Had a decent spell, but he was far from a top operator. He wouldn't get a look in these days

7) Niall Ronan - Too lightweight for international rugby. An out an out seven, but he only got picked due to about a million injuries. Most Munster folk would tell you that he isn't good enough for a Heineken Cup 23.

8) Roger Wilson - This is harsh. Wilson is a good player, but he wasn't nearly as good as he is now when he got his cap. He still wouldn't be near my WC squad mind.

9) Guy Easterby - I never liked Guy. It was a toss up between him and TO'L, but I think I'm getting a bit Leinster Biased, so there you go.

10) Jeremy Staunton - Next please.

11) Brian Carney - Another ill-fated league convert. Never did anything in Union, yet miraculously got himself on the plane for the world cup. Pathetic.

12) Kieran Lewis - It makes me happy to think that a player of this calibre wouldn't get a look in at Leinster, Munster or Ulster these days. Poo.

13) Barry Murphy - I never got what the big deal was with this guy. All he did in my mind was score one good try against Sale. Sure he got unlucky with injury, but he wasn't good enough to play for the national team.

14) Anthony Horgan - Worst performance ever.

15) Gavin Duffy - I have nothing against Gav, he's actually quite a good player. He was the worst footballer to occupy the 15 shirt though. We were fairly blessed in this position throughout the decade. Dempsey, Murphy and Kearney were all very good.

Opinions?

Suppose I can agree with most of those but as you said some of them are actually good enough players just the strength of the positions.

 

[psychic duck]

1) Bryan Young - Never good enough. Hardly ML standard. I cringed every time he got on the pitch. Let's forget about him and move on.

the fact he was released by Ulster and is now playing in the Italian league with Cavalieri Prato proves your point

2) Frankie Sheehan - Actually quite a useful player, but we were strong at hooker in the 00's . Worse than Wood, Byrne, Flannery and Best so gets it by default. Also, a bloody awful pundit

I'd put forward Jackman ahead of Sheahan

3) Tony Buckley - Can't scrummage, won't scrummage. Good in the loose, but that's like having a lock who is 4'6 but is a mean kicker. Thank god he's off to Sale. Hopefully it's out of sight, out of mind.

no contest, he got far too many caps

4) Gary Longwell - Meh, not international standard, simple as. Neil Francis seems to think he was only picked to keep Ulster fans happy. Maybe, or maybe not, but I wouldn't have had him in a green shirt regardless.

Hogan? McCullough?

5) Mick O'Driscoll - As one of my brother's mates says, he's like that embarrassing uncle you don't want to come around for Christmas. I reckon he must be one of the most hated Irish players of the last decade.

why?

6) Neil Best - Had a decent spell, but he was far from a top operator. He wouldn't get a look in these days

Victor Costello?

7) Niall Ronan - Too lightweight for international rugby. An out an out seven, but he only got picked due to about a million injuries. Most Munster folk would tell you that he isn't good enough for a Heineken Cup 23.

Jonny O'Connor?

8) Roger Wilson - This is harsh. Wilson is a good player, but he wasn't nearly as good as he is now when he got his cap. He still wouldn't be near my WC squad mind.

Victor Costello?

9) Guy Easterby - I never liked Guy. It was a toss up between him and TO'L, but I think I'm getting a bit Leinster Biased, so there you go.

Brian O'Meara? Tom Tierney? Kieran Campbell?

10) Jeremy Staunton - Next please.

Paddy Wallace?

11) Brian Carney - Another ill-fated league convert. Never did anything in Union, yet miraculously got himself on the plane for the world cup. Pathetic.

you don't rate? Tyrone Howe another ill fated league convert?

12) Kieran Lewis - It makes me happy to think that a player of this calibre wouldn't get a look in at Leinster, Munster or Ulster these days. Poo.

Ian Whitten?

13) Barry Murphy - I never got what the big deal was with this guy. All he did in my mind was score one good try against Sale. Sure he got unlucky with injury, but he wasn't good enough to play for the national team.

Quinlan? Earls as a 13?

14) Anthony Horgan - Worst performance ever.

Ian Dowling? Topping? Maggs as a winger?

15) Gavin Duffy - I have nothing against Gav, he's actually quite a good player. He was the worst footballer to occupy the 15 shirt though. We were fairly blessed in this position throughout the decade. Dempsey, Murphy and Kearney were all very good.

McHugh? McKenna? Crotty?

 

[Feicarsinn]

I'd put forward Jackman ahead of Sheahan

They were probably of a similar standard. Jackman was fantastic for Leinster in the 07-08 season and thus has earned himself a pretty high standing amounts Leinster fans. Sheahan is a prick.

no contest, he got far too many caps

Hogan? McCullough?

Meh, forgot Hogan played for Ireland. You might have that one.

why?

He was 3rd choice at Munster and therefore jumped ahead of Leo Cullen, a far better player, in the Ireland team. Incredibly infuriating.

Victor Costello?

No. Costello was a fantastic player. I'll not tolerate this slight upon his honour

Jonny O'Connor?

Our 2005 player of the year? Hardly.

Victor Costello?

Stop it.

Brian O'Meara? Tom Tierney? Kieran Campbell?

I can't really comment on Tierney as he was a good bit before my time, but Campbell didn't disgrace himself for Ireland, albiet against Japan. Don't remember much about O'Meara either tbh!

Paddy Wallace?

Wallace scored something crazy like 27 points in his single outing at outhalf. Staunton was bloody useless against Argentina in 07'. Wallace was occasionally alright in the green shirt. Staunton was not.

you don't rate? Tyrone Howe another ill fated league convert?

He was drafted into the squad having done nothing in union. He then failed to get into the Munster team. Tyrone Howe was a British & Irish Lion. No comparison.

Ian Whitten?

Lewis was worse. Couldn't get in the Leinster squad, went to Munster, couldn't get in there. Whitten isn't great, but he only played in one of the tours that took place while the Lions were away. Lewis was considered for the 07' WC squad. Jasus. Shaggy would have been a shout for worst as well actually.

Quinlan? Earls as a 13?

Earls is a good player played out of position, Murphy was a bit muck imo. It's hard to get a good judgement on Quinlan because he was absolutely ruined by injuries. Not that it matters really, the 13 shirt was never going to up for debate in the 00's.

Ian Dowling? Topping? Maggs as a winger?

Nah, Horgan takes the biscuit. Outpaced by a second row and generally shambolic against the All Blacks. His one cap was one too many for me.

McHugh? McKenna? Crotty?

can only really remember McHugh out of that lot. As far as I can recall he was alright. Managed to carve out a decent career in France. Probably of a similar standard to Duffy.

 

[Melhor Time]

21. Andy Goode (the fattest fly half of all time)

I can´t recall his name but the fattest flyhalf of all time plays for Trinidad & Tobago. A huge beer gut. 100KG without question. He was quite good though, but was old. I sawe him play for his country vs Brazil in 2009. It was a World Cup Qualifying match in São José dos Campos.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Andy Goode (what's in a name) has been the worst fly-half in Sharks history as well

 

[Draggs]

Andy Goode (what's in a name) has been the worst fly-half in Sharks history as well

Considering his competition is Steve Meyer and Juan Martin Hernandez, neither of whom could finish a season, that is some achievement.

 

[Seaton]

Considering his competition is Steve Meyer and Juan Martin Hernandez, neither of whom could finish a season, that is some achievement.

Personally I don't think Goode did too bad, he did what he could do very well, kicked his kicks and had a decent tactical kicking game whilst with the Sharks.

Unlikely to ever be an attacking threat with him at the helm, but that wasn't his fault. Apart from a yellow on his debut (I think) he was solid and far from the weakest link in the chain.

Strange how whenever some fans would say 'That Andy Goode player was crap, why did we go for a northern hemisphere player?', then I would point out that on his return to Europe he went from a starting player at one of the southern hemispheres top teams to the English second division, they would all of a sudden change the subject. I wonder why?...

 

[Draggs]

We went for Goode because there was nobody else available.
Meyer had just announced his first retirement and Hernandez was injured.
Pretorius had left us by then, Pienaar was playing 9, Lambie was a nipper, Henry Honiball had retired... You get the picture.

 

[Seaton]

Aye aye I know.

However it would have been nice to see Phil Godman get some sunshine down here...

As for Pretorius... he joined after the S14 in 2010 did he not?