NEQ - 23

Not wanting to step on the toes of another thread, but I was wondering just how strong an NEQ squad would be and how it would fair against an England team. To help start the debate I will list all the "quality" NEQs we can come up with here, and we can try and finalise a squad.

From the top of my head

Saracens:
Figallo, Du Plessis, Brits, Hamilton, Rhodes, Burger, Brown, Vunisa, Bosch, Taylor, Wyles


Exeter:
Low, Francis, Salvi, Whitten, Campagnaro

Leicester:
Ayerza, Mulipola, Ghiraldini, Fitzgerald, Fonua, Williams (O), JDV, Betham, Goneva, Veainu

Harlequins:
Jones, Horwill, Luamanu, Talei, Evans, Roberts, Visser

Northampton:
Matfield, Fotuali'i, Hanrahan, Pisi G, Pisi K, North, Tuala

Wasps:
Cittadini, Festuccia, Johnson, Davies, Smith, Hughes, Jackson, Gopperth, Halei, Masi, Piutau, Leiuua

Gloucester:
Afoa, hibbard, Thrush, Galarza, Kalamafoni, Moriarty, Laidlaw, Hook

Bath:
Day, Louw, Denton, Houston, Matawalu, Priestland, Agulla

Sale:
Cobillas, Mujati, Ioane, Braid, Cusiter, Tuitupou

Worcester:
O'Callaghan, Heathcote, Olivier, Vuna, Heem

Newcastle:
Welsh, Latu, Sinotti, Venditti

London Irish:
Franks, Cowan, Maitland

from that list I would maybe go:

Ayerza, Brits, Francis, Horwill, Davies, Louw, Salvi, Huges, Laidlaw, Evans, Veainu, Roberts, Taylor, Visser, Piutau

Johnson, Mulipola, Franks, Fitzgerald, Moriarty, Fotuali'i, Jackson, Wyles

I've based mine more in potential then actual form

Ayerza, Brits, Franks, Horwill, Matfield, Hughes, Johnson, Loamanu, Matawalu, Evans, Visser, Roberts, Campagnaro, Sinoti Sinoti, Piutau

I was trying to balance fading glories with current performance. Most obvious in including Davies over Matfield.

Where I was torn was at openside - where Smith is still excellent, but Salvi has been exceptional in the AP. Francois Louw was possibly the second name on my team sheet as I view him one of the few genuinely world class players in the AP.

Louw has to be the openside. Whilst I love Blair Cowan for us, and Salvi has been a top performer in the AP, Louw is arguably only behind Hooper and Pocock in world rugby.

I can't see past having George Smith in our team. I think he still has it, or did last weekend. One of the best players I have ever seen at any position. I could see George Pisi at 13, but not emotional about it. I suppose everyone agrees about Evans at 10. Wyles is having another excellent season and covers almost every back position from 11-15, and would be on the bench.

Probably the only real unarguables are Ayerza, Evans and Roberts.

Ozzy3213 wrote:Probably the only real unarguables are Ayerza, Evans and Roberts.

Agree. Ayerza is probably one of the best in the world at the moment.

Ozzy3213 wrote:Probably the only real unarguables are Ayerza, Evans and Roberts.

But then you could argue that Roberts hasn't actually done anything in the AP yet, so hes still based on potential

Visser and Piutau as well, both would walk into almost any club side in the world.

yappysnap wrote:Visser and Piutau as well, both would walk into almost any club side in the world.

Pardon me Yappysnap, but Visser is an impressive offensive wing whose defense has been found wanting for his years in Edinburgh. Mostly does not have the guts to tackle though now he seems to have moved past that. His positioning is still poor though and it can cost try's against top teams. Struggles as a kick chaser in my view as well. His kicking is adequate for someone who rarely uses it. So I would say Visser is a great wing in the right system, but North is ahead of him for me with Sinoti on the other wing.

Piutau I agree has been excellent and would excel as a full back anywhere. Wasps will be paying a pretty penny to Ulster if they want him next season!

yappysnap wrote:Visser and Piutau as well, both would walk into almost any club side in the world.

Visser??? Have you been having a cheeky tipple??

1. Ayerza
2. Hibbard
3. Welsh
4. Davies
5. Horwill
6. Denton
7. Louw
8. Hughes

9. Laidlaw
10. Evans
11. North
12. Roberts
13. Bosch
14. Sinoti
15. Piutau

That's a better side than England could put out imo.

I have had more then one Xmas tipple!

Looking back at that comment on Visser I can see your confusion, but facts are facts. No matter his faults he is a try scoring machine.

Hazel Sapling wrote:

yappysnap wrote:Visser and Piutau as well, both would walk into almost any club side in the world.

Pardon me Yappysnap, but Visser is an impressive offensive wing whose defense has been found wanting for his years in Edinburgh. Mostly does not have the guts to tackle though now he seems to have moved past that. His positioning is still poor though and it can cost try's against top teams. Struggles as a kick chaser in my view as well. His kicking is adequate for someone who rarely uses it. So I would say Visser is a great wing in the right system, but North is ahead of him for me with Sinoti on the other wing.

Piutau I agree has been excellent and would excel as a full back anywhere. Wasps will be paying a pretty penny to Ulster if they want him next season!

Sinoti is great but can't tackle either and mixes the sublime with lunacy.

North couldn't buy a score at the moment, yes he was great at the start of his career but now defences have worked him out. He's Banahan mkII but not as good.

Visser though is a try scorer, he sort of tackles most people too and he makes few mistakes most of the time.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

yappysnap wrote:Visser and Piutau as well, both would walk into almost any club side in the world.

Visser??? Have you been having a cheeky tipple??

1. Ayerza
2. Hibbard
3. Welsh
4. Davies
5. Horwill
6. Denton
7. Louw
8. Hughes

9. Laidlaw
10. Evans
11. North
12. Roberts
13. Bosch
14. Sinoti
15. Piutau

That's a better side than England could put out imo.

Oh and Bosch at 13? He's nothing more then mr average, Campagnaro has far more talent in one leg.

Yea, Bosch looked very average in the World Cup........ I've never heard of North compared to a worse version of Banahan, yet Visser would walk into any side in the world

You must be absolutely hammered.

Hibbard and Welsh? Hibbard seems to be struggling to keep his place in the Glaws team and the couple of viewings I've had of him this season were largely anonymous. Welsh little better for the couple of viewings I've had of Falcons. Now Welsh had a good RWC and Hibbard has previously been excellent so I presume you've selected them on past ability.

Brits is the best NEQ hooker for me. Consistently excellent.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Yea, Bosch looked very average in the World Cup........ I've never heard of North compared to a worse version of Banahan, yet Visser would walk into any side in the world

You must be absolutely hammered.

Yes Bosch is so good he's stuck behind Duncan Taylor for Sarries... Bravo

Bosch had an outstanding WC, there is a life outside the AP you know.

Brits has went off the boil and 2nd choice at Saracens, Hibbard is 1st choice at Gloucester. Welsh has been fantastic for us, much better than Brookes ever was.

All opinions, does it really matter? All that really matters is Yappy thinks Visser is one of the best wingers in the rugby

Pooly
great news that Welsh is playing so well for the falcons. I thought it was absolute lunacy that Toonie and the SRU didnt offer him a contract renewal in the spring but were happy to shower cash on Ryan Grant who has been dining out on his " i got called up as a late lions injury replacement but never got off the bench" badge for far too long. Having seen how badly Moray Low got minced against ASM when he came off the bench, in both legs, i hope Cotter picks Welsh as our back up 3, at least,  for the 6 N's.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Bosch had an outstanding WC, there is a life outside the AP you know.

Brits has went off the boil and 2nd choice at Saracens, Hibbard is 1st choice at Gloucester. Welsh has been fantastic for us, much better than Brookes ever was.

All opinions, does it really matter? All that really matters is Yappy thinks Visser is one of the best wingers in the rugby

Ah so Brits is second choice so it makes him a poor player, Bosch is second choice but according to you still a great player. Gotcha now

Visser is one of the best wingers in the world, the stats say so. He's not as good as a lot of others but still one of the best.

Visser is not one of the best wingers in the world, thats not even a debate. He can barely get in the Scotland side which is a good indication that's he not world class.

He scores a lot of tries, was top try scorer two or three seasons running, he'll be back in the Scotland side next year too, he is by far a better scorer then most other NH wings

yappysnap wrote:He scores a lot of tries, was top try scorer two or three seasons running, he'll be back in the Scotland side next year too, he is by far a better scorer then most other NH wings

Scoring a lot of tries in the Rabo hardly justifies being "one of the best wingers in the world" though Yappy. He's been pretty ineffectual at Int level, which is generally regarded as the highest level of rugby apparently.

Do you actually rate Visser higher than Savea, Nahalo, Huget, Inhoff etc? I'd struggle to get him in a top 20 tbh.

1. Ayerza
2. Ghiraldini
3. Mulipola
4. Who cares
5. Not me
6. Blindsides are overrated
7. Er, Frak it Loamanu
8. Fonua
9. Kitto
10. Williams
11. Goneva
12. Jdv
13. Betham
14. Morris
15. Veainu

A few missing positions but there's frankly no one else worth considering so we'll play with 12. Clearly the best NEQP side available from AP teams.

Now, where's me fooken eggnog.

Fuzzy I think you meant;

4. Fitzgerald
5. erm Davies (Coventry is pretty close to Leicester)
6. Loamano
7. McCaffery

Was under the impression that Fitzgerald was EQ, though now I think of it I have absolutely no idea why. Forgetting McCaffrey was shameful however, he's been the surprise of the season for me, even more so than Veainu.

I expected McCaffery to be a solid option. He's played rather well but looks even better when in tandem with O'Connor. Really liked it when we had Williams at 6 and then Croft for impact. As far as I'm aware Fitzgerald isn't EQ but our two other Kiwi imports are.

McCaffery is however EQP via mother

Ah bugger. We'll be losing the entire back row at this rate.

Visser is probably as good as Cuthbert is right now...

Ayerza, Britz, Franks, Horwill, Davies, Luow, Smith, Hughes (once he qualifies as EQ, replace with Johnson), Laidlaw, Evans, Sinoti, Leiua, Taylor, Goneva, Piutau

Is Cuthbert scoring tries again?

Based on his performances for us so far Franks would have to be in at tighthead. The bloke is ridiculously strong and has really improved our scrum.

ChequeredJersey wrote:Is Cuthbert scoring tries again?

He scored two tries in recent weeks, so yeah maybe.