TSF Teams of the Decade

Team of the decade

All BlacksForeigner
1T Woodcock (71%)T Mtawarira (62% SA)
2D Coles (81%)B du Plessis (50% SA)
3O Franks (100%)T Furlong (41% Ire) / A Jones 41% Wales)
4B Retallick (100%)A Wyn Jones (39% Wales)
5S Whitelock (85%)E Etzebeth (24% SA)
6J Kaino (96%)S Burger (50% SA)
7R McCaw (100%)S Warburton (33% Wales)
8K Read (100%)D Vermeulen (63% SA)
9A Smith (100%)W Genia (46% Aus)
10D Carter (100%)J Sexton (41% Ire)
11J Savea (82%)G North (54% Wales)
12M Nonu (96%)M Giteau (41% Aus)
13C Smith (96%)J Davies (61% Wales)
14C Jane (80%)B Habana (92% SA)
15B Smith (86%)I Folau (38% Aus)

All Blacks

Voting for the AB team of the decade was a bit of an anticlimax. Unusually for the Fern there was consensus on almost every position.

Look at the lowest vote share: Woodcock with 'only' 71%

Six position were unanimous (two didn't even warrant a second nomination)

Sure if you were picking your own XV you might move Ben Smith to accomodate Dagg etc but we had to have a one player one position rule. Otherwise we could've had Ben Smith as right wing and fullback.

It's almost the same team as the one the Stuff website came up with. The differences from their team:

  • They had Thorn ahead of Whitelock
  • Ben Smith was a winger
  • They moved Barrett to fullback

A special mention goes to @ARHS for claiming Meesam was the best 6, Crotty the best 12 and ALB the best centre


Foreigner XV

A lot more competition in the voting here. Only Habana really dominated the voting for a position

This side is dominated be the Saffa's and Welsh. A handful of Aussies and Irish but the big surprise is no Poms.
So soon after the semi final result I was expecting the (mostly) kiwi voters to rate the English.

There were a few more in the 2nd XV..


2nd XVs

I added in the players with an * because there was no 2nd option on the poll

All Blacks B TeamForeigner B Team
1J Moody (21%)M Vunipola (14% Eng) / G Jenkins (14% Wales)
2K Mealamu (19%)A Creevy (27% Arg)
3C Faumuina *T Furlong (41% Ire) / A Jones 41% Wales)
4B Thorn (15%)V Matfield (20 % SA)
5S Barrett (0%)P O'Connell (13% Ire)
6L Meesam (4%)J Smith (32% SA)
7S Cane (0%)D Pocock (29% Aus)
8V Vito *B Vunipola (17% Eng)
9TJ Perenara (0%)C Murray (42% Ire)
10B Barrett (0%)H Pollard (32% SA)
11R Ioane (14%)N Nadolo (21% Fiji)
12R Crotty (4%)J Roberts (32% Wales)
13A Lienert-Brown (4%)M Tuilagi (21% Eng)
14N Milner-Skudder (13%)A Ashley Cooper (8% Aus)
15I Dagg (11%)L Halfpenny (19% Wales) / L Williams (19% Wales)

It's probably a bit redundant asking a mostly kiwi website who would win a match between the sides...

Are you happy with the selections?

booboo
booboo
January 28, 9:17am

5 S Barrett (0%)
7 S Cane (0%)
8 V Vito *
9 TJ Perenara (0%)
10 B Barrett (0%)

?

These guys get zero % but make the 2nd XV. Shows how dominant those other guys were.

sparky
sparky
January 28, 6:58pm

Amazing work.

mariner4life
mariner4life
January 28, 10:59pm

Couple that stand out in the Internationals

Matt Giteau barely played test rugby last decade. He didn't play the World Cup in 2011, then fucked off to France. He came back in 2015, and isn't that pretty much it? And that makes him the 12 of the decade?

Also i struggle to think there wasn't a better body of work from a 6 than Burger in the 2010s, considering he battled with injuries. One of my favourite players, but his best work was the decade before.

Nepia
Nepia
January 28, 11:27pm

Can we permanently ban @ARHS? Not having 100% for Kaino is wrong on so many levels.

Odd that SBW has two RWC winners medals and played 58 tests throughout the decade and can't even make the second team.

A

ARHS
February 6, 6:54am

Is it that easy to get banned here? Must remember to always support the popular choice and brute power over multi-skills and creativity. Wanted to have Beauden at fullback, Ben Smith on the wing, Conrad Smith at centre and ALB at second five, but was not allowed to do that. Messam is my hero for what he brought to teams, sevens, super rugby, maoris and AB's. Was still a split decision with Kaino for me though. More than happy with the teams the group came up with though.

Nepia
Nepia
February 6, 7:00am

@ARHS said in TSF Teams of the Decade:

Is it that easy to get banned here? Must remember to always support the popular choice and brute power over multi-skills and creativity. Wanted to have Beauden at fullback, Ben Smith on the wing, Conrad Smith at centre and ALB at second five, but was not allowed to do that. Messam is my hero for what he brought to teams, sevens, super rugby, maoris and AB's. Was still a split decision with Kaino for me though. More than happy with the teams the group came up with though.

Easy? You've just done the equivalent of multiple murders.

But don't worry you have company, the (presumably) Cantab who didn't vote for Nonu also deserves to be strung up as well.

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antipodean
antipodean
February 6, 9:53am

That All Black team of the decade is remarkably uncontentious. A squillion caps and for a lot of them, a solid argument for best player in their position. Very lucky to have watched a team of that skill level play over that period.

No Quarter
No Quarter
February 6, 10:30am

@mariner4life said in TSF Teams of the Decade:

Couple that stand out in the Internationals

Matt Giteau barely played test rugby last decade. He didn't play the World Cup in 2011, then fucked off to France. He came back in 2015, and isn't that pretty much it? And that makes him the 12 of the decade?

Also i struggle to think there wasn't a better body of work from a 6 than Burger in the 2010s, considering he battled with injuries. One of my favourite players, but his best work was the decade before.

Yeah, but Jamie Roberts appeared to be the next best option and he's a pretty limited player. Nonu was so far ahead of his peers in that period it's not even funny.

Dice
Dice
February 7, 4:55am

Did Fofana get any votes at 12?

He stole at least one year off Nonu as the best 12 in the world during Nonu's prime.

Bones
Bones
May 5, 4:06pm

Geez...I don't think I've ever heard of Luke Jones!

Snowy
Snowy
May 5, 8:04pm

@Bones said in TSF Teams of the Decade:

Geez...I don't think I've ever heard of Luke Jones!

A shame the nickname "myth" is already taken.