Only two All Blacks deemed good enough for British critic’s dream team
British rugby critic Stephen Jones can find room for only two All Blacks in his ‘‘greatest team of rugby players I have ever seen’’.
Jones, who has made a career of watching rugby, named an allstar XV from players he had viewed live or on TV and bustling midfielder Frank Bunce and prop Olo Brown were the only New Zealanders honoured by the man from The Times.
Bizarrely Jones picked Bunce at second-five when he played the bulk of his test career at centre.
There were controversial selections – Wallabies great David Campese, who often played at fullback, was chosen on the left wing ahead of Jonah Lomu, and Wales and British and Irish Lions skipper Sam Warburton beat Richie Mccaw to the No 7 jersey.
‘‘To leave out Jonah Lomu is a painful experience, especially since Lomu was almost untackleable in the 1995 World Cup, and remains the biggest nightmare for defenders that the game has ever seen,’’ Jones wrote. ‘‘But through no fault of his own, he was reduced considerably in power after that, whereas Campese played 101 tests for the Wallabies and scored 64 tries. He was good enough as a footballer to appear in almost any position behind the scrum, he could be a maverick and he could be outspoken but he also, definitively, had genius.’’
On justifying Warbuton, Jones wrote: ‘‘He did not have so long a career as his peers at openside flanker – David Pocock, Matt Hooper and Richie Mccaw won many more caps and earlier, players like Josh Kronfeld, Fergus Slattery, George Smith and others had their supporters.
‘‘But Warburton, when he was fully fit and firing, was as good an operator on or over the loose ball and as clever a rugby player as any back row has seen. He also rewrote the blueprint for international rugby captaincy, with Wales and especially with the Lions.’’
There was not even a mention of Dan Carter as he chose Argentina’s Juan Martin Hernandez at No 10 and there were three Pumas in the side – second only in numbers to the four Welsh players selected by
Welshman Jones in his team in The Times.
That included hooker Mario Ledesma edging legendary All Blacks skipper Sean Fitzpatrick and Australian Phil Kearns to anchor the front row.
Kieran Read got consideration at No 8 but lost out to Italy’s ‘‘brilliant force of nature’’ Sergio Parisse and Australian Chris Latham won the fullback jersey from a list that included Christian Cullen.
Here’s what Jones had to say about the two 1990s All Blacks he did honour with their presence in his team.
On Bunce: ‘‘Bunce played for both Samoa and New Zealand, and in his 55 caps for the All Blacks was the strong man of the midfield in world rugby. He had footballing gifts to be sure but he was also a fixer, a powerful man, and formed an outstanding partnership as a foil to Walter Little outside him. Uncompromising was hardly the word for him.’’
On Brown: ‘‘Far too many great players of all nations agree with the selection of Brown, for there to be any other choice. Fran Cotton and Graham Price from a past era would have their supporters, so too the lesserknown Phil Blakeway, at least three Argentinian giants, plus Carl Hayman of New Zealand,’’ Jones said.
‘‘But Brown, part of the New Zealand team which reached a peak in the 1990s, edges them all out for the authority of his play, and the paucity of fuss and frippery and bother whenever he was going about his work.’’