PR vote on the Team of 2011

Planet Rugby Readers' Team of the Year:

15 Israel Dagg: No doubts about your selection here: The All Blacks and Crusaders full-back garnered nearly 60 percent of your votes. Kurtley Beale was next best with 30 percent while Isa Nacewa got just under 10 percent.

14 George North: This was the closest result in any position as the Welsh youngster pipped another young gun, James O'Connor, by a single vote! North got 23 percent of the vote with Toulouse flyer Vincent Clerc and Hurricanes wing Cory Jane also losing out narrowly.

13 Conrad Smith: A relatively clear winner here as the All Blacks stalwart bagged 34 percent of the vote. Ireland and Leinster veteran Brian O'Driscoll got 23 percent with Manu Tuilagi the only England player to feature in any position with just 18 percent.

12 Ma'a Nonu: An easy win for the IRB Player of the Year nominee with just under two thirds of the vote (62 percent). Jamie Roberts was next best with 25 percent.

11 Digby Ioane: The biggest winner in any position with a whopping 71 percent of your nominations. As was the case when he took the field, no one else even came close to the Reds and Wallabies speedster.

10 Dan Carter: We thought it would be close contest but in the end DC got nearly half your votes, pulling in 45 percent. Quade Cooper narrowly beat Rhys Priestland to a spot on the bench, with 17 percent compared to the Welshman's 15.

9 Will Genia: Another big winner from the Wallabies. The Reds scrum-half was an overwhelming favourite, getting 61 percent of the votes compared to just 16 percent for Mike Phillips.

8 Imanol Harinordoquy: The Biarritz and France hardman is the losing World Cup finalists' only representative in your starting XV. 55 percent of you picked him ahead of Kieran Read, who had only 18 percent.

7 David Pocock: This was probably the toughest choice for most of you with a number of candidates up for the openside berth. Pocock was a convincing winner however with 43 percent of the ballots. IRB Player of the Year Thierry Dusautoir got 26 percent; Sam Warburton got 21 while Richie McCaw got just 10 percent. South African Player of the Year Schalk Burger got only a handful.

6 Jerome Kaino: New Zealand's Player of the Year is also your favourite blindside, winning 46 percent of the votes. Irishman Sean O'Brien bagged 27 percent of your ballots, beating Dusautoir for a place on the bench by a single vote.

5 Victor Matfield: In his last year as a player, the Bulls skipper still had enough in the tank to win 44 percent of your votes, while Wallabies captain James Horwill was next best with 37 percent.

4 Brad Thorn: A clear winner here as the Crusaders veteran maintains his spot in the second row from last year with 64 percent of the your votes...and a World Cup-winner's medal.

3 Owen Franks: Another All Black from last year's team. Franks got 34 percent of the vote, just ahead of Martin Castrogiovanni with 29 percent. France prop Nicolas Mas was the only other real candidate with 18 percent.

2 Bismarck du Plessis: The Sharks and Boks hooker was a big favourite, winning more than half your votes at 53 percent to get promoted from last year's bench. He trades places with William Servat, who got 15 percent.

1 Cian Healy: Healy's role in Leinster's Heineken Cup win and the upset over the Wallabies at the World Cup is rewarded with Ireland's only place in your team. He got 36 percent of the vote compared to Soane Tonga'uiha's 20 percent.

Replacements:
16 William Servat

17 Martin Castrogiovanni

18 James Horwill

19 Sean O'Brien

20 Mike Phillips

21 Quade Cooper

22 Kurtley Beale

23 Soane Tonga'uiha.



PR Readers' Team of 2010:
15 Mils Muliaina

14 James O'Connor
13 Conrad Smith
12 Ma'a Nonu
11 Hosea Gear
10 Dan Carter
9 Will Genia
8 Kieran Read
7 Richie McCaw
6 Jerome Kaino
5 Victor Matfield
4 Brad Thorn
3 Owen Franks
2 William Servat
1 Tony Woodcock
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 Imanol Harinordoquy, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Kurtley Beale, 23 Thomas Domingo.

Nice to know I was pretty close
https://www.606v2.com/t20347-world-xv-for-the-year-2011

Pretty close there mate, well done...

i'd say that the PR team is pretty hard to argue against, if Adam Jones had stayed fit, instead of pulling his calf muscle then i am sure you would have been spot on.

As it says George north only just shaded O'Conner

Personally I would have selected Fourie over Smith, who I think is criminally underrated.

a few debatable places for me, toby f was 8 of the wc so surprised he isint there apart from that only difficult places for me would be 12 and 7 as competition there

Am suprised North got in and also suprised at so few N Hemisphere players (7 out of 23) but then compared to 2010's team it's much better for the NH

I think fourie suffers from being part of a gamelan that essentially doesnt include its backplay as a primary weapon.

Its always seen as an apply pressure percentage type option rather than one to base wins on- a serious tactical error in the modern game.
Be interesting to see how fourie would go in an ab or oz backline. One thing is he would appreciate the higher and more varied workload.
Dagg an beale evens for me but agree with ioane. Stunning with ball in hand and a sniff of space.
Matfield and thorne the star / workhorse combination for a few years now. Du plessis- rated world no.1 but not SA's? Craaaazy...
Pound for pound Oconnor is the most talented all round player. No fear for such a youngster and had a huge future.

Since it was over the year,cannot fault most selections BUT Kaino was the outstanding 6.
At 10 Dan Carter may still be the best,BUT woefully little game time so a little lucky.
Pocock at 7?,fair call overall,when Mc Caw was against him on one leg in the RWC and at Eden Park.Captain Tackles was Number One on the block.
BUT I will say this McCaw on one leg was as good as most of his rivals on two.WITHOUT him the All Blacks would`nt have won the RWC,come April when he`s fit hopefully.
Those who think he`s finished may eat there words,McCaw,Read,Kaino in my opinion is the World Number one back row.

McCaws efforts were still more about his leadership- by example and through inspiration. He's had his player awards but in playing through injury, not training but continuously encouraging players in the lead up to the knockouts and being there at the end taking a finger in the eye on the ground you can't ask for more than that.

Stuff legends are made of.

I think we'll see a couple of new 7's in McCaws wake next year or two, such is the standard he's set for aspiring players, who will be using him as a yardstick for the position.

welshy824 wrote:a few debatable places for me, toby f was 8 of the wc so surprised he isint there apart from that only difficult places for me would be 12 and 7 as competition there

It´s team of 2011 mate not RWC 2011. Faletau was incredible but you had to perform throughout the year and not just in test rugby. I still can´t believe he didn´t miss a tackle in the RWC. An unbelievable performance by someone so young. Definitely one to watch out for in 2012. Let´s see if he doesn´t miss a tackle in the 6N!

Fourie is indeed often forgotten. A shame because he is world class and a player I had the utmost respect for. But he won´t be forgotten for his 2.25 million dollar rugby deal in Japan. I´d take that money too if I had a numpty coach who didn´t know how to utilise me properly. But really it´s a big loss to SA who have already lost Matfield and Botha (Smit is a leader who you can´t replace but in Du Plessis you have a much better player).

For me the weak areas in world rugby this year were 10 (Carter when he´s not injured is untouchable) where there isn´t enough consistency and halfback as well. 8 has plenty of good players but not enough consistency either.