Your Club's Team of the Decade

by **George Carlin** Thu 07 Sep 2017, 11:46 am

Glasgow are currently running a debate, sponsored by McCrea Financial Services, as to which are the 23 best players your club has had over the past 10 years.

Would be quite interested to see everyone do the same for their club.

Can we have some rules:
1. Please choose the players whom you enjoyed watching the most and who contributed most to your club, regardless of what they may have achieved elsewhere.
2. There isn't a great deal of point in picking players who were amazing across their career as a whole, but useless when playing for your franchise.
3. For example, Munster fans can choose Christian Cullen (arguably the greatest full back of all time across his whole career) if they like, but we all know he sucked old man balls whilst in Limerick.
4. Have honourable mentions if you like.
5. Longevity is important, but you shouldn't feel free to pick lifelong journeymen out of sheer nostalgia. Quality is important.

For Glasgow, I would say:

01 Tom Smith
02 Gordon Bulloch
03 Euan Murray
04 Leone Nakarawa
05 Jonny Gray
06 Jason White
07 John Barclay
08 Josh Strauss

09 Nikola Matawalu
10 Finn Russell
11 Thom Evans
12 Alex Dunbar
13 Mark Bennett
14 Sean Maitland
15 Stuart Hogg

16 Ryan Grant
17 Fraser Brown
18 Michael Cusack
19 Richie Gray
20 Kelly Brown
21 Chris Cusiter
22 DTH van der Merwe
23 Glenn Metcalfe

Very tough that there's no place for the Ruck Inspector, Johnnie Beattie, Bernardo Stortoni, Simone Favaro, Kevin Tkachuk, Sean Lamont or Tommy Seymour.

That Glasgow side would give anyone a game. Over to you guys.

by **RDW** Thu 07 Sep 2017, 11:49 am

You've already broken rule 2 given that Tom Smith only played 6 times for Glasgow (according to Wiki) and he left in 99 which was more than 10 years ago!

by **RDW** Thu 07 Sep 2017, 12:07 pm

Here's mine for Edinburgh

1 Alan Jacobson
2 Ross Ford
3 WP Nel
4 Nathan Hines
5 Scott Murray
6 Ally Hogg
7 Hamish Watson
8 Simon Taylor

9 Mike Blair
10 Sad

11 Tim Visser
12 Matt Scott
13 Nick De Luca (he was crap for Scotland, very good for Edinburgh)
14 Simon Webster
15 Chris Paterson

Subs - Al Dickinson, Dougie Hall, Geoff Cross, Jim Hamilton, David Denton, Greig Laidlaw, Sad

, Ben Cairns

A few key points:

- I couldn't think of a single 10 worthy of being mentioned as our 'best' of the last 10 years
- That forward pack would give anyone a hard game
- The backs not so much
- Not many of the current crop are in the team

I hope all of those played for Edinburgh in the last 10 years...!

by formerly known as Sam Thu 07 Sep 2017, 12:32 pm

Tigers, as I was a youngster when we won the back to back HEC titles there's no selections pre that point which some other Tigers fans may well want in. I also tried to stick to rule 1 most of all.

1. Ayerza
2. Kayser
3. Castro (faded once his gluten allergy came to light but before that, what a player)
4. Johnno
5. Slater (hands for that try vs Saints)
6. Moody
7. Thacker (there's been a lot better but his wow factor makes games fun)
8. Corry
9. Ellis
10. Ford
11. Varndell
12. Smith
13. Manu
14. A Tuilagi
15. Murphy

Rabeni and Hipkiss were strong considerations as were about a dozen other tight five forwards.

by marty2086 Thu 07 Sep 2017, 12:39 pm

Ulster

1.Court
2.Best
3.Botha
4.Muller
5.Henderson
6.Ferris
7.Henry
8. Wilson
9.Pienaar
10.D Humphreys
11.Trimble
12.Wallace
13.Payne
14.Bowe
15.Terblanche

16.Fitzpatrick
17.Herring
18.Afoa
19.Harrison
20.N Best
21.Boss
22.Jackson
23.Cave

by Margin_Walker Thu 07 Sep 2017, 12:46 pm

London Irish.

1. Clarke Dermody
2. David Paice
3. Ben Franks
4. Bob Casey
5. Nick Kennedy
6. Blair Cowan
7. Steffon Armitage
8. Chris Hala'ufia
9. Paul Hodgson
10. James Marshall
11. Alex Lewington
12. Seilala Mapusua
13. Jonathan Joseph
14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
15. Delon Armitage

16. Alex Corbisiero
17. Danie Coetzee (scraping the barrel a bit at hooker based on the brief)
18. Halani Aulika
19. Matt Garvey
20. Ofisa Treviranus
21. Brendan McKibbin
22. Mike Catt
23. Topsy Ojo

by Welly Thu 07 Sep 2017, 12:47 pm

Team of the decade so 2007-2017
1) Ayerza
2) Kayser
3) Castrogiovanni
4) Kay
5) Parling
6) Croft
7) Newby
8) Corry
9) Youngs
10) Flood
11) Veainu
12) Allen
13) Manu T
14) Alex T
15) Murphy

Sub
16) Youngs
17) Genge
18) Cole
19) Cullen
20) Henry T
21) Ellis
22) Ford
23) Rabeni

by Pete330v2 Thu 07 Sep 2017, 12:50 pm

For Ulster:

1.Court
2.Best
3.Afoa
4.Muller
5.Henderson
6.Ferris
7.Henry
8. Wanennberg
9.Pienaar
10.D Humphreys
11.Trimble
12.Wallace
13.Cave
14.Bowe
15.Payne

16.Court
17.Herring
18.Botha
19.Van Der Merwe
20.N Best
21.Boss
22.Jackson
23.Terblanche

by **Ozzy3213** Thu 07 Sep 2017, 12:52 pm

The last 10 years for us at London Irish have had some serious highs and lows, with everything from a Premiership final appearance through to relegation and subsequent promotion. Player turnover has been massive, but here goes, my team from the 2008 onwards…

15. Delon Armitage
14. Topsy Ojo
11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
These three have to come as a package. It was difficult to leave out Peter Hewat, and I was tempted to do what Toby Booth did in the 09 final and move Delon to 13 in order to accommodate him, but as a back three between 2007-2010 these three were up there with the very best around.

13. Fergus Mulchrone
12. Seilala Mapusua
There has been a Mapusua shaped whole in our midfield that has never quite been filed since he left. He had absolutely everything, skill, pace and power, and played the game with a smile on his face, an absolute gentleman. 13 was a tough choice, I considered JJ, but his best form has been for Bath, and I also considered Elvis Seveali’i who I am a huge fan of, but I’ve gone for Fergus, as although unflashy he was one of the most important players we had last season, he just doesn’t make mistakes and is now a firm fan favourite.

10. James Marshall
9. Paul Hodgson
Jimi Mar has only been with us for a year but has had a huge impact. The best 10 we’ve had in the last 10 years is probably Mike Catt, but his best times may have been elsewhere. If you’d have asked this question last year I could have included Barry “The Boot” Everitt, but he left for Northampton in 07/08, so having considered Geraghty, Lamb and Bowden!!!, Marshall it is. Alongside him has to be ‘Dodge’. Simply a bloody legend!

1. Clark Dermody
2. David Paice
3. Ben Franks
Dermody was simply a class act for us and gets the nod over Corbs. Paicey is a club legend and just pips Danie Coetzee at hooker. At tighthead it has to be Franksy. Simply the fact that he stuck with us when we went down was enough to elevate him in fans minds, but he was superb last year. Whilst they may lacka bit of skill, the forwards in the Championship are huge, and Franksy had a target on his bag with them lining up to have a crack at him, but he showed his class week in week out. Proper legend.

4. Nick Kennedy
5. Bob Casey
I don’t really need to explain these two do I?

6. Declan Danaher
7. Blair Cowan
8. Ofisa Treviranus
I’ve gone Blair over Steffon Armitage at 7, as aside from a dip in form after his okey-cokey Scotland selection issues around the World Cup in 2015 he has been superb for us, while Stef, albeit very good for us, stepped up a level while at Toulon, so didn’t actually play his best rugby in green. Dec is simply another club legend, and I’ve gone for big Trev at 8 over Chris Hala’ufia mainly as I’d like to keep 15 players on the pitch of the whole match! Wink

Bench
Danie Coetzee, Alex Corbisiero, Halani Aulika, Jebb Sinclair, Steffon Armitage, Brendan McKibbin, Mike Catt, Peter Hewatt

by marty2086 Thu 07 Sep 2017, 12:52 pm

Pete330v2 wrote:For Ulster:

1.Court
2.Best
3.Afoa
4.Muller
5.Henderson
6.Ferris
7.Henry
8. Wanennberg
9.Pienaar
10.D Humphreys
11.Trimble
12.Wallace
13.Cave
14.Bowe
15.Payne

16.Court
17.Herring
18.Botha
19.Van Der Merwe
20.N Best
21.Boss
22.Jackson
23.Terblanche

Tom Court really was some player getting picked twice Whistle

by **Ozzy3213** Thu 07 Sep 2017, 12:53 pm

Margin_Walker wrote:London Irish.

1. Clarke Dermody
2. David Paice
3. Ben Franks
4. Bob Casey
5. Nick Kennedy
6. Blair Cowan
7. Steffon Armitage
8. Chris Hala'ufia
9. Paul Hodgson
10. James Marshall
11. Alex Lewington
12. Seilala Mapusua
13. Jonathan Joseph
14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
15. Delon Armitage

16. Alex Corbisiero
17. Danie Coetzee (scraping the barrel a bit at hooker based on the brief)
18. Halani Aulika
19. Matt Garvey
20. Ofisa Treviranus
21. Brendan McKibbin
22. Mike Catt
23. Topsy Ojo

Very similar to the 23 I've just chosen. I have to be honest and say I completely forgot about Matt Garvey!

by **George Carlin** Thu 07 Sep 2017, 12:55 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:You've already broken rule 2 given that Tom Smith only played 6 times for Glasgow (according to Wiki) and he left in 99 which was more than 10 years ago!

You look fat with that green badge on.
Run

by **George Carlin** Thu 07 Sep 2017, 12:56 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:Here's mine for Edinburgh

1 Alan Jacobson
2 Ross Ford
3 WP Nel
4 Nathan Hines
5 Scott Murray
6 Ally Hogg
7 Hamish Watson
8 Simon Taylor

9 Mike Blair
10
11 Tim Visser
12 Matt Scott
13 Nick De Luca (he was crap for Scotland, very good for Edinburgh)
14 Simon Webster
15 Chris Paterson

Subs - Al Dickinson, Dougie Hall, Geoff Cross, Jim Hamilton, David Denton, Greig Laidlaw, , Ben Cairns

A few key points:

- I couldn't think of a single 10 worthy of being mentioned as our 'best' of the last 10 years
- That forward pack would give anyone a hard game
- The backs not so much
- Not many of the current crop are in the team

I hope all of those played for Edinburgh in the last 10 years...!

Edinburgh's best 10 was probably Greig Laidlaw, ironically.

by **RDW** Thu 07 Sep 2017, 1:01 pm

George Carlin wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:Here's mine for Edinburgh

1 Alan Jacobson
2 Ross Ford
3 WP Nel
4 Nathan Hines
5 Scott Murray
6 Ally Hogg
7 Hamish Watson
8 Simon Taylor

9 Mike Blair
10
11 Tim Visser
12 Matt Scott
13 Nick De Luca (he was crap for Scotland, very good for Edinburgh)
14 Simon Webster
15 Chris Paterson

Subs - Al Dickinson, Dougie Hall, Geoff Cross, Jim Hamilton, David Denton, Greig Laidlaw, , Ben Cairns

A few key points:

- I couldn't think of a single 10 worthy of being mentioned as our 'best' of the last 10 years
- That forward pack would give anyone a hard game
- The backs not so much
- Not many of the current crop are in the team

I hope all of those played for Edinburgh in the last 10 years...!
Edinburgh's best 10 was probably Greig Laidlaw, ironically.

Yeah I would go with that - he was instrumental in our run to the HK semi. He also filled in admirably at 10 for Scotland during that period (early days in his Scotland career).

Phil (good)Godman had some decent games for Edinburgh (and some terrible ones) but I couldn't bring myself round to picking him!

Chainsaw Laney??

by beshocked Thu 07 Sep 2017, 1:05 pm

Are we talking about best or who have contributed the most? Some of these are sentimental, some of these are the best.

Saracens

1.Mako Vunipola
2.Schalk Brits
3.Petrus Du Plessis
4.Maro Itoje
5.Steve Borthwick
6.Jackson Wray
7.Jacques Burger
8.Billy Vunipola

9.Neil De Kock
10.Owen Farrell
11.Chris Wyles
12.Brad Barritt
13.Duncan Taylor
14.Chris Ashton
15.Alex Goode

16.Richard Barrington
17.Jamie George
18.Carlos Nieto
19.George Kruis
20.Ernst Joubert
21.Richard Wigglesworth
22. Charlie Hodgson
23.Marcelo Bosch

Honourable mentions to Michael Rhodes, Kelly Brown and David Strettle

by Marshes Thu 07 Sep 2017, 1:08 pm

For Connacht it's fairly easy, basically the team that won the Pro 12 two years ago!

Bealham, McCartney, Buckley, Muldowny, Dillane, Muldoon, Heenan, Masterson, Marmion, MacGinty, Healy, Aki, Henshaw, Adeolukun, O Halloran

Honourable mentions: Heffernan, Loughney, White, Browne, SOB 2.0, Cooney, Ronaldson, Poolman

by jimbopip Thu 07 Sep 2017, 2:10 pm

George Carlin wrote:Glasgow are currently running a debate, sponsored by McCrea Financial Services, as to which are the 23 best players your club has had over the past 10 years.

Would be quite interested to see everyone do the same for their club.

Can we have some rules:
1. Please choose the players whom you enjoyed watching the most and who contributed most to your club, regardless of what they may have achieved elsewhere.
2. There isn't a great deal of point in picking players who were amazing across their career as a whole, but useless when playing for your franchise.
3. For example, Munster fans can choose Christian Cullen (arguably the greatest full back of all time across his whole career) if they like, but we all know he sucked old man balls whilst in Limerick.
4. Have honourable mentions if you like.
5. Longevity is important, but you shouldn't feel free to pick lifelong journeymen out of sheer nostalgia. Quality is important.

For Glasgow, I would say:

01 ~~Tom Smith~~Sorry six games is not enough. Gordon Shrek Reid must be included for that dance on that night in Belfast.
02 Gordon Bulloch
03 Euan Murray
04 Leone Nakarawa Mr Flagball can come on as sub; you cannot have a team of the decade without the Ruck Inspector
05 Jonny Gray
06 Jason White
07 John Barclay
08 Josh Strauss

09 Nikola Matawalu Chris Cusiter, if you want a little bit more consistency.
10 Finn Russell
11 Thom Evans
12 Alex Dunbar
13 Mark Bennett
14 Sean Maitland
15 Stuart Hogg

16 Ryan Grant
17 Fraser Brown
18 Michael Cusack
19 Richie Gray
20 Kelly Brown I can see why you have picked an excellent player, and all round good egg, but I would have the Jedi because...well just because he deserves it.
21 Chris Cusiter
22 DTH van der Merwe
23 Glenn Metcalfe wee mad Bernie, this is Glasgow and your selection is short on pure mad mentalness.

Very tough that there's no place for the Ruck Inspector, Johnnie Beattie, Bernardo Stortoni, Simone Favaro, Kevin Tkachuk, Sean Lamont or Tommy Seymour.

That Glasgow side would give anyone a game. Over to you guys.

by jeffwinger Thu 07 Sep 2017, 4:49 pm

Gloucester:

1. Nick Wood – no real contest, great club player with 250+ appearances. Struggled a little after the change in scrum laws, which undoubtedly accelerated his decline, but overall a top-notch player. A little unlucky not to get more international representation in a time when England were short on quality looseheads, but lack of size likely held him back.
2. Oliver Azam – tough call between him and Hibbard, but going on the pure entertainment category it has to be Oli. Longevity also helps him here – if Hibs can keep up his current quality for another couple of years then he’ll overtake.
3. John Afoa – proven to be a great signing, well worth all the cash. Holds up his side of the scrum and excellent around the park, as well as being a virtual ever present for the last three years. Greg Sommerville was impressive in his short cameo, but again longevity wins out.
4. Tom Savage – outstanding club player, recently celebrating 150 appearances. Another virtual ever present, with only one lengthy spell out if memory serves, unfortunately during his season as club captain. Lacks glamour, but solid in all aspects. Great glue player.
5. Dave Attwood – huge impact in just two seasons early in his career, which coincided with a period of relative success at the club. Won his first England cap with us, but missed out on keeping him long term for reasons outside anyone’s control. Thrush a likely contender if performances continue.
6. Alastair Strokosch – quiet but highly effective. His hard work allowed his openside partner below to do his thing. Kalamafoni a great high workrate, high impact player and could easily take it, but go with Stroker due to partnership with Q and better team performance in his time. Moriarty has also impressed but needs to hang around and keep it up a little longer.
7. Akapusi Qera – little explanation needed here. All-time club legend, absolute beast and a talisman throughout his career at the club. Sad ending, but great memories. Criminally underrated by wider audience, but a firm favourite among supporters.
8. Ben Morgan – just about edges it due to a few big performances early on. Often criticised by supporters for only showing up when England selection was looming, but has knuckled down and become a solid all-rounder recently. Narraway an interesting option, and perhaps a little recency bias swaying me here. Delve another good one, but shorter tenure.
9. Jimmy Cowan – another tough one, and lacking a stand-out option. Cowan’s combative, street-wise nature wins it for me, despite never really looking like a 50-cap All Black. Laidlaw rarely at his best with us and didn’t suit style. Robson a favourite and desperately wish we’d kept him, but didn’t start enough games to make a team of the decade. Feel like I’m forgetting someone.
10. Freddie Burns – 2 year period where he was undoubtedly the best 10 in the league and should have played a lot for England in that period. Came to a sour end, but put in some all-time great performances. Win vs Leicester at Kingsholm stands out. Hope he does well at Bath. Has never been adequately replaced, but high hopes for Williams.
11. James Simpson-Daniel – again minimal explanation required. Among the club’s greatest ever players, and arguably among the best wingers of the premiership era. Awful luck with injuries. Could have been an international great if he’d stayed fit at the right times.
12. Billy Twelvetrees – brilliant in his early years with the club. Like Burns suffered a little from some England mismanagement, but seems past that now. At his best when burden of kicking and game management is off him, and hopefully can return to top form with Williams at 10. Anthony Allen another favourite and would edge it but for time period.
13. Mike Tindall – outstanding defender and leader, and often unfairly maligned for overall quality. Realise he isn’t the most creative, but with the flyhalf and back 3 selected we will manage. Trinder has an even worse injury record than Sinbad, but would be in if he’d been fit. Scott had a good first season, interested to see whether he settles at 12 or 13.
14. Charlie Sharples – ever present throughout the decade, does all of the basics brilliantly and a very dangerous runner. Unlucky with England, but to the benefit of the club. Recently hit 200 appearances and still only 28 so could be around for a while yet.
15. Jonny May – ok, ok, I accept this is a little bit of a fudge. However, the two wingers named aren’t really up for debate, and May played a lot at fullback in his early years. Some of his early wonder tries were in the 15 shirt. Not the most secure option but possibly the most exciting broken field runner ever seen at Kingsholm. Olly Morgan could’ve been great but another hit with the injury curse. Marshall has started well.

16. Richard Hibbard – see above.
17. Dan Murphy – slim pickings due to Wood’s omnipresence, but never let the team down in 5 years. Collazo on his way out by the time this decade started.
18. Greg Somerville – see above.
19. Jeremy Thrush – see above.
20. Sione Kalamafoni – see above.
21. Dan Robson – see above, a lot of spark coming off the bench, lethal pace.
22. Anthony Allen – as mentioned above only just sneaks into the last decade but what a player. 36 would cover flyhalf.
23. Henry Trinder – mentioned above, would have been nailed on if he could stay fit. Still enough time to make the team of the next decade!

Really pleased with that lot. Despite being a dream team think it actually looks quite balanced. Savage, Attwood, Strokosch, Qera and Tindall all outstanding defenders, and Q, Burns and the back three all lethal in attack. Perhaps not the strongest line-out (Hibbard and Thrush would improve it), and a little thin on the bench but otherwise I’d fancy this team to do well. Further proof of the level of team underperformance in recent years – we clearly have the individuals!

by **RDW** Thu 07 Sep 2017, 4:57 pm

Good post jeffwinger.

From what I saw of Matt Scott last season he was a great player for you but seems to have been benched at the start of the season - has he fallen down the pecking order or is he just being eased into the season?

by **profitius** Thu 07 Sep 2017, 5:20 pm

Its a tough one but I'll go with the following for Munster.

1. Marcus Horan
2. Jerry Flannery
3. John Hayes
4. Donnacha Ryan
5. Paul O'Connell
6. Peter O'Mahony
7. Dave Wallace
8. Denis Leamy

9. Conor Murray
10. Ronan O'Gara
11. Keith Earls
12. Rory Scannell
13. Rua Tipoki
14. Doug Howlett
15. Simon Zebo

16. Niall Scannell
17. Dave Kilcoyne
18. John Ryan
19. Donnacha O'Callaghan
20. CJ Stander
21. Paul Warwick
22. Peter Stringer
23. Darren Sweetnam

by jeffwinger Thu 07 Sep 2017, 5:25 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:Good post jeffwinger.

From what I saw of Matt Scott last season he was a great player for you but seems to have been benched at the start of the season - has he fallen down the pecking order or is he just being eased into the season?

Yeah he was great last year, particularly early on when he seemed to score almost every time he saw the field.

Wouldn't take too much from the opening game. Expect Twelvetrees, Scott and Trinder (fitness allowing) will be rotated between 12,13 and 22.

Was surprised to see Atkinson and especially Symonds start and wasn't massively impressed with either, definitely a weak link in an otherwise strong team performance.

Possibly some unreported niggles, a bit of extra rest, or maybe just the guys who looked sharpest in Ackers' first week of training.

by Kingshu Thu 07 Sep 2017, 5:59 pm

marty2086 wrote:Ulster

1.Court
2.Best
3.Botha
4.Muller
5.Henderson
6.Ferris
7.Henry
8. Wilson
9.Pienaar
10.D Humphreys
11.Trimble
12.Wallace
13.Payne
14.Bowe
15.Terblanche

16.Fitzpatrick
17.Herring
18.Afoa
19.Harrison
20.N Best
21.Boss
22.Jackson
23.Cave

Think you have to give Jackson the 10 shirt, remember its from 2007-2017, so its Humph in his final season. He did go out on top of his game so maybe is close. Again with Roger Wilson you only have the final year of his first stint, and second stint and I think that Pedrie Wannenburg was better. Neil Best can only use 07-08 season same for Justin Harrison.

by HongKongCherry Thu 07 Sep 2017, 6:11 pm

Jeffwinger, it's good to have another Glaws fan round these parts and it proves my argument there is more than one computer literate person in Gloucestershire Wink

I would however disagree with a few of your picks. For me it's
1 Nick Wood
2 Olivier Azam
3 Carlos Nieto
4 Alex Brown
5 Marco Bortolami
6 Pete Buxton
7 Akapusi Qera
8 Gareth Delve
9 Rory Lawson
10 Ludovic Mercier (just scrapes in)
11 Jonny May
12 Eliota Fuimaono Sapolu
13 Henry Trinder
14 James Simpson-Daniel
15 Olly Morgan
16 Richard Hibbard
17 Alasdair Dickinson
18 Paul Doran-Jones (1st stint only!!)
19 Will James
20 Andy Hazell
21 Dan Robson
22 Freddie Burns
23 Charlie Sharples

by jeffwinger Thu 07 Sep 2017, 6:27 pm

HongKongCherry, you're right about a few of those picks.

Nieto, Brown and Bortolami I hadn't really considered due to timing, although checking wiki it would appear they do all make the cut. Could be argued their best period with the club had passed by then, but Brown in particular probably makes it.

EFS was a criminal oversight on my part! He walks in. Shift Billy to the bench and drop Allen.

Otherwise horses for courses, and good to see we've had so many players to pick from!

by Margin_Walker Thu 07 Sep 2017, 7:39 pm

Ozzy3213 wrote:
Margin_Walker wrote:London Irish.

1. Clarke Dermody
2. David Paice
3. Ben Franks
4. Bob Casey
5. Nick Kennedy
6. Blair Cowan
7. Steffon Armitage
8. Chris Hala'ufia
9. Paul Hodgson
10. James Marshall
11. Alex Lewington
12. Seilala Mapusua
13. Jonathan Joseph
14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
15. Delon Armitage

16. Alex Corbisiero
17. Danie Coetzee (scraping the barrel a bit at hooker based on the brief)
18. Halani Aulika
19. Matt Garvey
20. Ofisa Treviranus
21. Brendan McKibbin
22. Mike Catt
23. Topsy Ojo

Very similar to the 23 I've just chosen. I have to be honest and say I completely forgot about Matt Garvey!

He was a real loss and would have been great to have around the year we went down. Never really going to happen for him with England, but is still putting in cracking performances like at Welford Road at the weekend. Did enough at LI to sneak into this list.

An exercise like this shows just how few top class hookers and tens we've had over the last decade. Tighthead as well to an extent. Halani gets in for being a great guy and that one season where he was unreal with ball in hand before his injury.

by The Great Aukster Thu 07 Sep 2017, 9:23 pm

marty2086 wrote:Ulster

1.Court
2.Best
3.Botha
4.Muller
5.Henderson
6.Ferris
7.~~Henry~~ Pollock
8.~~Wilson~~ Williams
9.Pienaar
10.~~D Humphreys~~ Jackson
11.Trimble
12.Wallace
13.~~Payne~~ Spence
14.Bowe
15.~~Terblanche~~ Payne

16.Fitzpatrick
17.~~Herring~~ Brady
18.Afoa
19.Harrison
20.N Best
21.Boss
22.~~Jackson~~ D Humph
23.~~Cave~~ Piutau

by Geordie Thu 07 Sep 2017, 10:12 pm

Falcons....

Looking at the last ten years...jeez its been bleak. This years team is the best by a country mile and if you ask this in say two years time would probably fill this lineup.

1 Rob Vickers / Jon Golding - Cant decide
2 Scott Lawson
3 Carl Hayman - Was a one man wrecking machine for us!
4 Geoff Parling
5 Tim Swinson
6 Mark Wilson
7 Phil Dowson / Nili Latu
8 Aly Hogg

9 Sone Takulua - Going to be a club legend...class player.
10 Johnny Wilkinson
11 Sinotti Sinotti
12 Toby Flood
13 Jamie Noon
14 Tom May
15 Matt Burke - One of the best players I have seen play for us and one of the best foreign imports

by Geordie Thu 07 Sep 2017, 10:31 pm

HongKongCherry wrote:

11 Jonny May
14 James Simpson-Daniel

Well theres tries galore!!!

I was going to ask where Terry Fanoula was...but didn't realise he last played in 2006...jeez where do the years go!!!

by Pot Hale Thu 07 Sep 2017, 11:36 pm

Leinster

15 Rob Kearney
14 Shane Horgan
13 Brian O'Driscoll
12 Gordon Darcy
11 Isa Nacewa
10 Johnny Sexton
9 Chris Whitaker
8 Jamie Heaslip
7 Sean O'Brien
6 Rocky Elsom
5 Brad Thorn
4 Leo Cullen
3 Stan Wright
2 Sean Cronin
1 Cian Healy

Honourable mentions/subs for Contemponi, Hines, Jennings, Fitzgerald, Hickie, McGrath, Furlong, Strauss, Toner, Boss.

by SirBurger Fri 08 Sep 2017, 3:57 am

Ozzy and MW - good teams. One thing I would say is that Steff was superb for us. He did go up a level at Toulon but he was simply outstanding for us. I remember game after game of him absolutely dominating the breakdown and making 50 metre breaks while he was in green. Back row very competitive and very hard to leave out Peter Hewat for Delon.

Dermody
Paice
Franks
Kennedy
Casey
Danaher
Armitage
Hala'Ufia

Hodgson
Catt
Tagicakibau
Mapusua
Joseph
Ojo
Armitage

Bench: Coetzee, Court, Rautenbach, Garvey, Cowan, McKibbin, Hewat, Lewington

by 21st Century Schizoid Man Fri 08 Sep 2017, 8:21 am

George Carlin wrote:Glasgow are currently running a debate, sponsored by McCrea Financial Services, as to which are the 23 best players your club has had over the past 10 years.

Would be quite interested to see everyone do the same for their club.

Can we have some rules:
1. Please choose the players whom you enjoyed watching the most and who contributed most to your club, regardless of what they may have achieved elsewhere.
2. There isn't a great deal of point in picking players who were amazing across their career as a whole, but useless when playing for your franchise.
3. For example, Munster fans can choose Christian Cullen (arguably the greatest full back of all time across his whole career) if they like, but we all know he sucked old man balls whilst in Limerick.
4. Have honourable mentions if you like.
5. Longevity is important, but you shouldn't feel free to pick lifelong journeymen out of sheer nostalgia. Quality is important.

For Glasgow, I would say:

01 Tom Smith
02 Gordon Bulloch
03 Euan Murray
04 Leone Nakarawa
05 Jonny Gray
06 Jason White
07 John Barclay
08 Josh Strauss

09 Nikola Matawalu
10 Finn Russell
11 Thom Evans
12 Alex Dunbar
13 Mark Bennett
14 Sean Maitland
15 Stuart Hogg

16 Ryan Grant
17 Fraser Brown
18 Michael Cusack
19 Richie Gray
20 Kelly Brown
21 Chris Cusiter
22 DTH van der Merwe
23 Glenn Metcalfe

Very tough that there's no place for the Ruck Inspector, Johnnie Beattie, Bernardo Stortoni, Simone Favaro, Kevin Tkachuk, Sean Lamont or Tommy Seymour.

That Glasgow side would give anyone a game. Over to you guys.

None too shabby there GC but Tom Smith:headscratch: I would go for Gordy Reid in that position - think I would have John Welsh benching as well.

by yappysnap Fri 08 Sep 2017, 8:51 am

For Harlequins, I've gone with players I've actually seen play rather then just off the back of stories.

15. Mike Brown
14. Tom Williams
13. George Lowe
12. Will Greenwood
11. Ugo Monye
10. Nick Evans
9. Andy Gomersall
8. Nick Easter
7. Will Skinner
6. Chris Robshaw
5. George Robson
4. Olly Kohn
3. Kyle Synkler
2. Tani Fuga
1. Jason Leonard

Honourable mentions to the likes of Guest, JTH, Care, Tiesi and Camacho who could all have been around there.

by Geordie Fri 08 Sep 2017, 9:32 am

Did Jason Leonard and Greenwood still play for you guys as late as 2007 happy?

by HongKongCherry Fri 08 Sep 2017, 10:24 am

GeordieFalcon wrote:
HongKongCherry wrote:

11 Jonny May
14 James Simpson-Daniel

Well theres tries galore!!!

I was going to ask where Terry Fanoula was...but didn't realise he last played in 2006...jeez where do the years go!!!

That's exactly what I thought. I couldn't believe its been over 10 years since Terry left. On the other hand, when you look at the comparative strength of the Glaws side I've picked you can see why we've not really featured at the top much; bar a few key players, most have been good club players or fading ex-internationals.

by **George Carlin** Sun 10 Sep 2017, 9:18 pm

Some great posts here- thanks everyone.

by 21st Century Schizoid Man Mon 11 Sep 2017, 3:09 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:Here's mine for Edinburgh

1 Alan Jacobson
2 Ross Ford
3 WP Nel
4 Nathan Hines
5 Scott Murray
6 Ally Hogg
7 Hamish Watson
8 Simon Taylor

9 Mike Blair
10
11 Tim Visser
12 Matt Scott
13 Nick De Luca (he was crap for Scotland, very good for Edinburgh)
14 Simon Webster
15 Chris Paterson

Subs - Al Dickinson, Dougie Hall, Geoff Cross, Jim Hamilton, David Denton, Greig Laidlaw, , Ben Cairns

A few key points:

- I couldn't think of a single 10 worthy of being mentioned as our 'best' of the last 10 years
- That forward pack would give anyone a hard game
- The backs not so much
- Not many of the current crop are in the team

I hope all of those played for Edinburgh in the last 10 years...!

Can I put Callum Gibbons in at 7 ? Smile

by **RDW** Mon 11 Sep 2017, 3:14 pm

Why would you do that? Headscratch

by TJ Mon 11 Sep 2017, 3:51 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:Here's mine for Edinburgh

......................

- I couldn't think of a single 10 worthy of being mentioned as our 'best' of the last 10 years
-

We must have had one decent 10 surely? Not that I can think of one! did Patterson ever play 10 for us? Is Good Godman! really the best 10 we have had?

by **RDW** Mon 11 Sep 2017, 4:35 pm

Mossy may have played the odd game there but when he came back from Gloucester (what a disaster that was) he played most his rugby at fullback.

I suspect goodGodman is our most capped 10 in the last 10 years!

by TJ Mon 11 Sep 2017, 5:23 pm

*hits head on wall*

by ScarletSpiderman Mon 11 Sep 2017, 7:56 pm

Liam Williams
Sean Lamont
Foxy
Regan King
North
Steve Jones
Gareth Davies (think Peel was just past a decade)

Rob Evans
Ken Owens
Samson Lee
Jake Ball
Tadgh Beirne
Aaron Shingler
Cubby
John Barclay

(Matthew Rees, Iestyn Thomas, Deacon Manu, Vernon Cooper, Simon Easterby; Aled Davies, Rhys Priestland, Hadleigh Parkes)

by Guest Mon 11 Sep 2017, 8:12 pm

Are you a young man ScarletSpiderman?! Seems mainly current players! I'd need to go back and check but there must be more to challenge this young/current crop!

by ScarletSpiderman Mon 11 Sep 2017, 8:33 pm

Griff, there are plenty like Daf Jones, Quinnell, Wyatt, John Davies (prop) who could contend in the pack. Except for they were not the last decade. Realistically in the backs there's more options, the likes of Stodds, Matthew J Wakins, Sal Finau and Mark Jones (plus the ex-players in there already). The pack over the last ten years hasn't had many decent players, Dai Lyons maybe, possibly Johnny Fa'amatuinu.

by Guest Mon 11 Sep 2017, 8:59 pm

Hmm, perhaps I have a problem with the passing of time SS! Yes, I was thinking of the likes of Quinell, etc but was thinking they were within the last decade. Whoops!

by ScarletSpiderman Mon 11 Sep 2017, 9:16 pm

So did I, but there was a thread on Scarletfever comparing our two championship sides with ('03 or '17 who was better) and I suddenly realised we really haven't had a side in the last ten years lol.

Anyway, I'm still buzzing you accused me of being young. Been a while since someone's said that.

by Guest Mon 11 Sep 2017, 9:18 pm

I'm happy to do it on a regular basis, for a small fee!

by ScarletSpiderman Mon 11 Sep 2017, 9:30 pm

Griff wrote: I'm happy to do it on a regular basis, for a small fee!

by mikey_dragon Tue 12 Sep 2017, 9:48 am

Dragons;

Gavin Henson.

That's all.

by LordDowlais Tue 12 Sep 2017, 10:09 am

ScarletSpiderman wrote:Liam Williams
Sean Lamont
Foxy
Regan King
North
Steve Jones
Gareth Davies (think Peel was just past a decade)

Rob Evans
Ken Owens
Samson Lee
Jake Ball
Tadgh Beirne
Aaron Shingler
Cubby
John Barclay

(Matthew Rees, Iestyn Thomas, Deacon Manu, Vernon Cooper, Simon Easterby; Aled Davies, Rhys Priestland, Hadleigh Parkes)

I think you are doing Mark Jones a Dis-service by not giving him a honourable mention, and no Alix Popham, well well. warning

by ScarletSpiderman Tue 12 Sep 2017, 10:15 am

Thought Popham was further back, but you're right he left in08, so I guess he'd take Barclay's spot.

As for Mark Jones I really liked him. But would have Stodds on the wing before him on entertainment value

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