Graham Smith: Team of My Life as ‘best 10 ever’ and Olympic bobsledder rewarded by World Cup-winning coach
Our Team of My Life series continues with former England women’s head coach Graham Smith joining us to pick the best XV he has coached against during his career.
We have partnered with eToro, the official investing and trading partner of Premiership Rugby, to bring you this series, Team of my Life, in which a famous face from the world of rugby recalls an ultimate XV.
Smith, who led the Red Roses to Rugby World Cup glory back in 2014, is a Level 5 coach and World Rugby educator and has faced off against some of the game’s best players.
He’s kindly given Planet Rugby an insight into the stars he took on during his England coaching tenure, as Ireland, Canada, France and New Zealand dominate his line-up.
Graham Smith’s Best XV he’s coached against
15 Niamh Briggs (Ireland): Solid under the high ball, an excellent kicker in all areas and had perfect timing coming into the line. Briggs started the counter attack for Ireland’s try that beat New Zealand in 2014 and also kicked the winning penalty in that game.
14 Heather Moyse (Canada): An Olympic bobsledder, she had incredible speed and could swerve without losing pace.
13 Amiria Rule (New Zealand): Power, pace and had a very good outside break. Rule is a great foil for my inside centre.
12 Élodie Poublan (France): Could play almost anywhere in the backs, Speed of break and off-load skills were very good from the France centre.
11 Carla Hohepa (New Zealand): Speed, agility, evasive; just a very difficult player to stop and one of New Zealand’s greats.
10 Anna Richards (New Zealand): Probably the best 10 ever to play women’s rugby. England legend Katy Daley-McLean came close but Anna was quality in all areas. Her game management was outstanding for the Black Ferns.
9 Kendra Cocksedge (New Zealand): Just quality in all areas of her play. Her speed of pass, kicking and decision making were excellent while she was a real threat with ball in hand.
The forwards
8 Kelly Russell (Canada): A very consistent player. The best compliment I can give Kelly is in 2014 she was close to Sarah Hunter as the best number eight in the tournament.
7 Claire Molloy (Ireland): Not the biggest player but incredibly resilient. A true fetcher at seven and excellent around the ball. Molly kept Ireland in many a game during her playing career.
6 Karen Paquin (Canada): A quality player at either six or eight, she played like an extra centre for Canada.
5 Victoria Heighway (New Zealand): Tall and athletic and was excellent in the lineout. She was like an extra back-row player for the Black Ferns.
4 Safi N’Diaye (France): Quality player on the ball and incredibly powerful. A number eight but has played second-row for France and needed to be in this team.
3 Hilary Leith (Canada): Had a very good World Cup in 2014 and in the pool game against England she caused them problems in the scrum.
2 Fiao’o Fa’amausili (New Zealand): Such a powerful hooker. Fa’amausili was skilful on the ball and a quality leader for New Zealand..
1 Fiona Coghlan (Ireland): Coghlan was a competitive scrummager, very resilient and led Ireland through some of their tougher times.
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