ESPN spXV team of the year

15. Andre Taylor (Hurricanes)

The 'Canes produced a mixed bag again this season but Taylor was a major influence. Lightning quick and capable of playing rugby with almost childlike glee, he lit up a number of games and dominated the try-scoring charts. Special mention also goes to the excellent Robbie Robinson of the Chiefs.

14. JP Pietersen (Sharks)

The Springbok winger was one of the major reasons that the Sharks made a surprise trip to the final. He flitted between the wing and outside-centre all year but brought the same things to the table every time - great feet, out and out pace and a superb work-rate.

13. Conrad Smith (Hurricanes)

Just a joy to watch at times. Right up there with the world's best players, Smith produced some excellent form throughout the campaign and will be sorely missed by the All Blacks when they kick-off their Rugby Championship campaign.

12. Sonny Bill Williams (Chiefs)

New Zealand will miss him. Sonny Bill's off to Japan and then the NRL, but Chiefs fans will at least have the memories to call on. This was his best season in union and he bought into the Chiefs' spirit, producing mature displays along with his usual block-busting runs and off-loads.

11. Bjorn Basson (Bulls)

The Bulls aren't the power they once were, but this season they did at least have one of the sharpest finishers in the game in good nick. Basson provided a cutting edge to the Bulls' conservative gameplan and produced the try-scoring form he became famous for with the Griquas.

10. Aaron Cruden (Chiefs)

Certainly Dan Carter's anointed successor in the eyes of many. Produced a series of thrilling performances as the Chiefs won a maiden title and also proved that he can manage a game from start to finish under pressure.

9. Will Genia (Reds)

Rugby's own little master, Genia was once again in sparkling form despite the Reds failing to live up to the billing as reigning champions. A constant running threat and arguably the best passer in the game, it was a one-man show at times.

1. Sona Taumalolo (Chiefs)

World rugby's most dangerous player from a yard out. Quite aside from his remarkable tally of nine tries, Taumalolo was a constant star in a hard-working Chiefs side. He scrummaged well and showed up around the field, always ready for work.

2. Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks)

Combative, powerful and very, very consistent. Bismarck was at the heart of the Sharks' run to the final and underlined his status as the world's best hooker.

3. Owen Franks (Crusaders)

One of the world game's best tight-heads, he anchored the Crusaders' destructive scrum for the larger part of the season and made their set-piece a formidable weapon.

4. Craig Clarke (Chiefs)

One half of the Chiefs' leadership team, Clarke epitomised coach Dave Rennie's plan to field a team of "hard-working, honest buggers". Played 80 minutes in the final on an injured knee and gave the Chiefs' sometimes-shaky lineout focus all season.

5. Eben Etzebeth (Stormers)

One of the finds of the season, Etzebeth broke into the Stormers side after injuries opened up a spot in the second-row and made it his own. Secured a Springbok bow against England and provided one of the YouTube moments of the season by flattening Bismarck du Plessis in the semi-final.

6. Liam Messam (Chiefs)

The other half of the Chiefs' captaincy team, Messam enjoyed a superb season. Adding a dose of hard-graft to his prodigious running game, he was inspirational. Man of the Match in the final to boot.

7. Marcell Coetzee (Sharks)

Another new face to emerge with South Africa in June, Coetzee's elevation to Test rugby followed on from a great domestic season. Has an engine that just keeps going and will now be out to establish himself in a Springbok jersey following the returns of Schalk Burger and Heinrich Brussow.

8. Ben Mowen (Brumbies)

They may have fallen short of a play-off place to the fast-finishing Reds, but the Brumbies were a different proposition this season than in recent years. Under Jake White they were dogged and hard to beat, and Mowen led from the front throughout. Next step must be to compete with the best from New Zealand and South Africa.

uchiha clan spXV team of the year,,,
1 s taumalolo, 2 b du plesiss, 3 wp nel, 4 b retallick, 5 a bekker 6 m coetzee, 7 d poc0ck, 8 l messam, 9 w genia, 10 a cruden, 11 h gear, 12 SBW, 13 t ellison, 14 b habana. 15 b smith
16 d fourie, 17 c oosthuizen, 18 e ezebeth, 19 k daniels, 20 f hougaard, 21 d carter, 22 a taylor

picked deon fourie over a strauss for my resereve hooker, cos of his utilty factor as loose forward cover and the fact that hes been in consistent good form all year, except the last two months where hes been one of the if not the most form player in the comp.
i also picked ben smith over andre taylor, cos taylor was untouchable the first two thrids of the season, but didnt have his usual midas touch for the last thrid, ben smith on the other hand was mr minimal to no errors every game, a very solid season of high caliber rugby games.

 It would be interesting if either of these 2 teams(espn or Sasuke) could play in the Tri-nations, now 4 nations.

Like a Barbarians Super 15 team at test level to see if they could beat the other 3 test teams(minus their spxv players of the year)-

With a great coach(new zealand one) and some time to prepare it would be very interesting.

Sasu

Good side - but there is just one point of disagreement and that is Retallick and Gear.   I rate Etebeth higher - and much so - than Retallick and would say on the wing Pietersen is better than Gear.   Forget about Pietersen as a 13 - he is a dead loss in that position.

By the way - in an earlier post I did mention to you to watch out for Jordaan in the final.   The one time he got the ball - he nearly broke through the whole Chiefs team and that guy is going to be a very good future Springbok.   We will see how he is going to do in the forthcoming CC series and in next years Super 15.   Not ready yet - but I bet you he will feature in the next selection after the 2013 Super 15 series.

@clevermike,

look out for retallick bro, hes going to carve up. he was 4th for most tackles made in the spXV and also topped the most lineouts won on opposition throw, which is massive.
but its his work around the field and ion the breakdowns where his strengths really kick in though, but it could also be his value is only recgonised by his fans, cos i never once saw what most saffas did in bakkies or butch james. bakkies was worth a couple of penalties per game and butch played a stereotype of a front row, lights on, but nobodies home, lol.

IMO jp pieterson has a huge future in the centers for the Boks, not so much the sharks though cos whithead and jordaan should be the durban incumbents easy, but if someone goes down to injury, then jp can fill in easily. i also think they should play jp at both 12 and 13, his distribution skills are really underrated IMO.
but may be an argument for another time. all i know is the Boks depth in the midfield is very low, unless meyer goes with enviromentally friendly all green midfield pairing and chooses young players who are untested. meanwhile Boks depth at wing is pretty healthy in terms of experience and jp could easily cover all.

i also thought hard about gear or jp for my other winger spot, but just like habana, i opted for a winger who performed the most consistently and IMHO, gear had more better games then jp. if we were going by stats alone, then that would be irrefutable, cos gear topped the ,most meters made in spXV, 4th for try assits, 5th for most linebreaks, 7th for offloads. all of these are lists that jp didnt make the top 20 in, but he did make 9th for most tackles missed,,,,its not the whole story of course, but at the ned of the day, gear had one or two bad games, while jp had a few at the beginning of the season (as did most the sharks) and then the odd one here and there too.

i do remember u talking about jordaan during the JRWC, so ive been keeping an eye out on him and hes been impressive so far and luckily hes playing under the sharks who IMO have the best all round game in SA.
if the sharks get of to a better start then they did last year, theres no reason why they cant be title contenders again. great backline and great forward pack.
but for now, keep watching retallick bro, cos IMO he and whitlock are going to be going toe to toe with ezebeth for a long time.

 

Bro call me biased but i would have just put the whole Almighty Chiefs team in... as a Champion team will always beat a team of champions...