All these World XVs, and Bok/All Black XVs, and other XVs that keep turning up on the forum got me to thinking (hold the front page, I know, thinking, who’d have thunk), how about a favourite players XV – I think it is done in one of the rugby magazines too, anyway who cares, here’s my ‘favourite players XV’.

15:  Glen Osborne (New Zealand).
Every team needs a funny bastard, and someone to play the guitar.  Oz fills both those positions, and was not a too bad fullback either.  The 1995 RWC he was the fullback of the tournament, and looked set for a long stint in the black 15.  Until a certain freak, C Cullen came along.
Honourable mentions to:  Serge Blanco (French), Matt Burke (Australia).

14:  Eric Rush (New Zealand). 
OK, so two funny bastards – Rushy takes the piss out of Oz brilliantly – Oz becomes the straight man to Rushy’s prankster.  Also this way I can sneak another forward into the team.  Even though he is now a back…
Honourable mentions:  Ray Mordt (South Africa), John Kirwan (New Zealand).

13:  Joe Stanley (New Zealand). 
Smokin’ Joe was cool – collar up, long sleeved jersey, spewing two or three times every test due to some sort of viral thing he always seemed to have.  Then there was his play to, sublime distribution skills, timing of passes something that centres today could learn from.  Not voery fast, perhaps that is why he worked so hard to set his wingers up for tires.  Also a staunch defender.  Invented the rush defence thing by himself, some of his spot tackles leaving the defender like Saddam Hussein after the Iraq war – wondering what the hell had hit him!
Honourable mention to:  Frank Bunce (New Zealand).  Marc Ellis (New Zealand).

12:  Warwick Taylor (New Zealand). 
Don’t know why, but even at an early age I just liked Taylor – nothing flash, just get the job done.  Mr dependable, and being a forward, you want backs who you know are not going to be doing retarded stuff that makes you have to run extra miles!
Honourable mentions:  Aaron Mauger (New Zealand), Dane Gerber (South Africa).

11:  Jonah Lomu (New Zealand). 
Big Jonah, the second stooge for Rushy.  The big guy in his prime though, was awesome to watch, bought a nation to its feet.
Honourable mentions:  Bernie Fraser (New Zealand), David Campese (Australia).

10:  Grant Fox (New Zealand). 
We won stuff like World Cups when the little general was playing, he kept his forwards running forward, which is a good thing.  Sure defence might not have been a strong suit, or any suit for Foxy, but he won games. 
Honourable mentions:  Naas Botha (South Africa), Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand), Frano Botica (New Zealand).

9:  Dave Loveridge (New Zealand). 
Trapper and his test againt the Lions in 1983 – Wellington, All Blacks up by 9-0 turning into the wind, a real Athletic Park howler.  He proceeded to play the best game I have seen from a halfback before or since.  Marshaled his fatties, played the blindside for 40 minutes, and basically won the game for the All Blacks.  Tore the heart out of that Lions touring team too, and their tour went from bad to worse from then on in.
Honourable mentions:  Joost van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Terry Holmes (Wales).

8:  Laurence Dallaglio (England). 
Think it was Wasps first Heineken Cup win a season or three back when I first came around to liking this thorn in the All Blacks side.  It was after halftime, and the camera panned to the big man, and he was standing there, waiting for the kick off, and looked like he was ready for a bloody war, not just a game of rugby.  Chin out, chest out, he was ready to go over the top and take the filthy Hun on single handed!
Honourable mentions:  Buck Shelford (New Zealand), Laurent Rodriguez (France), Goeff Old (New Zealand).

7:  Josh Kronfeld  (New Zealand). 
Hunched down shoulders, crash helmet on, goofy grin, and 100% into everything.  Kronfeld rocked, and his harmonica play would compliment the guitars of Oz and Rushy well.
Honourable mentions:  Michael Jones (New Zealand), Peter Winterbottom (Hawke’s Bay, England, Lions), Simon Poidevin (Australia)

6:  Mark Shaw (New Zealand).
The Cowboy.  A Freezing worker in Levin wasn’t it – a freezing worker anyway.  A genuine hard man, ask that Aussie lock Hall, who had his jaw broken by him not once, but twice at test match level.  Another story I heard was he was playing for Manawatu against Waikato, and the Waikato flanker was giving him grief, and then ‘whack’ slugged Shaw with his best shot.  Shaw turned his head like an old grizzly bear that is getting annoyed by his cubs and smiled.  The Waikato flanker was carried off shortly after.  Anyway, he was hard, and played rugby when it was filled with hard men.  Those were the days...
Honourable mention:  Jerry Collins (New Zealand), John Jeffery (Scotland, Lions), Michael Jones (New Zealand), Eric Champ (France).

5:  Martin Johnson (King Country, England, Lions). 
Just as hard as Cowboy, and shown the ropes in the home of the greatest lock in the game, Colin Meads.  So an honourary Kiwi.
4:  Colin Meads (New Zealand).
There’s only one Colin Meads.  I have probably seen a total of ten minutes of his play in highlight packages over the years, but hell, he’s a legend.  Will knock back a dozen pints when at speaking engagements, and you would not know it.  Will make sure things are ‘run right’, and ‘what goes on tour, stays on tour’…
Honourable mention:  Ian Jones (New Zealand), Lous Moolman (South Africa), Murray Pierce (New Zealand).

3:  Gary Knight (New Zealand). 
Pins in his hips at 12, told he would have trouble walking again, let alone play test rugby for New Zealand, but he went on to be one of the best tight head props New Zealand has ever had.  Missed the second test against the Bokke in 1981 because he could not get a relief milker for the four days of the test match lead up.  How things have changed.
Honourable mentions:  Carl Hayman (New Zealand), Graham Price (Wales), Richard Loe (New Zealand).

2:  Hika Reid (New Zealand). 
Hika the happy hooker from Ngongataha - as Bill McLaren used to say in his rolling Scots accent.  Just dynamic around the field when he had not been eating too many pork bones and puha.  The prototype Mealamu.  Used to love watching him play, and wanted to be just like him!
Honourable mentions:  Sean Fitzpatrick (New Zealand), Brian Moore (England), Tommy Lawton (Australia).

1:  Os du Randt (South Africa). 
Any man that can win a world cup in 1995, and still be in line to play another one in 2007 is tops in my book.  Also you need someone to be able to carry the kegs in for the aftermath barbeque, or braai…    
Honourable mentions:  Steve McDowell (New Zealand), Serafin Dengra (Argentina), Kevin Boroevich (New Zealand).

Well, that’s five minutes of your life you’ll never get back!  Feel like boring your fellow ferners with your own ‘favourites team”?  Then PM me with it in the forum, and we’ll publish it here too…