Ex-England duo name FOUR Springboks in the current top 10 players in the world: ‘No way anyone’s agreeing with that’
Ex-England duo name FOUR Springboks in the current top 10 players in the world: 'No way anyone's agreeing with that'
Ben Youngs and Anthony Watson have named their top 10 players in the world based on current form.
The duo made their selections on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast, primarily basing their choices on the players’ performances in the recent Nations Championship.
“There’s no way anyone’s agreeing with that list,” Youngs joked before ending the show. Let’s find out, shall we? The largely Southern Hemisphere form XV is as follows:
The top 10
10 Malcolm Marx: The reigning World Rugby Player of the Year played two games for the Springboks this summer, and was destructive in both. Against England, he scored a try and made an impressive 15 tackles with a perfect lineout display, and against Wales he was devastating in the scrum.
9 Sione Tuipolutu: Finishing a mammoth season with Glasgow and Scotland, the powerful centre scored two tries in their opening round win over Argentina, before containing the South African midfield in a tremendous effort in Scotland’s second round match. A solid showing off the bench in their third round fixture against Fiji was enough to sign off a tremendous summer of rugby.
8 Ardie Savea: Always leading from the front, Savea led his side to three victories this summer, beating France, Italy and Ireland to kickstart their campaign. The 32-year-old made 40 carries across the three matches, and was rewarded for his tenacity with two tries in his last match of the Southern Hemisphere leg against Ireland.
7 Will Jordan: He broke Doug Howlett’s long-standing All Blacks try-scoring record, touching down for his 50th international Test try during their victory over Italy. A further try against Ireland took him within 18 tries of the all-time international record, currently held by Daisuke Ohata of Japan. But at just 28 years of age, Jordan is well on his way to making that record his own.
6 Fraser McReight: Youngs described him as “the one guy with the scrum cap doing everything”, and he’s not exactly wrong. McReight’s statistics over the Nations Championship were excellent, making 27 carries and 30 tackles in his opening two matches, including two tries against France; he was deservedly rewarded with a break in their third Test against Italy. One of, if not the best, openside flankers in world rugby right now.
5 Pieter-Steph du Toit: On the blindside, there’s quite simply no one better. Despite slightly above average showings for his lofty standards, he still excelled well and above any other six out there. His work rate and persistence around the breakdown, in particular, were second to none.
4 Cheslin Kolbe: He only played one game, but what a performance it was. England must be utterly sick of the sight of this guy by now. He stuck 15-points on them, including 10 from the boot and a try off the back of yet another out-to-in step – which left winger Cadan Murley stuck in the mud.
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The top three
3 Maxime Lucu: In Dupont’s absence, France have found another world’s best number nine. Although Cam Roigard may argue the fact, Lucu has dominated the French game at club level and internationally, and his game management is arguably second to none in the global game. European success with Bordeaux-Begles this season; if he continues this quality form, then Dupont may find his French starting spot blocked.
2 Jasper Wiese: At the start of the Nations Championship there were still question marks as to whether or not he was the Springboks’ best number eight. There are no longer any doubters. His 27 carries in his two games this summer were each as destructive as the last. Despite a long season in Japan, he looked incredibly fresh – and devastating down whichever channel he ran through.
1 Matthieu Jalibert: Lucu’s partner at both club and international level. Jalibert has become the greatest in the game, able to do things other playmakers can only dream of. He shifted to full-back after the return of Romain Ntamack, but remained just as effective, making 269 metres from 39 carries, breaking the line six times and beating 19 defenders in the process.