Close but no hypothetical cigar: Leigh Halfpenny, Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino
The stand-out player in the All Blacks' World Cup triumpth in my opinion, and has backed it up since by simply being a brilliantly rounded fullback. While Halfpenny has been incredibly solid since his move to the back and Amorosino remains one of my favourite players in the world, Dagg combines the Welshman's defensive qualities and kicking with the pure flair of the Argentine. Makes up for his ultra-slappable face.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Tommy Bowe, Vincent Clerc
I was sat in the north stand of the Millennium Stadium as, during this years Six Nations, Italy made a loose kick that went straight into the hands of George North. North turned round and looked to counter attack. The collective sense of excitement and anticipation was something I hadn't felt since Shane Williams was at his pinnacle in 2008. In the 11 shirt, Wales once more had a winger who could turn a game. He characterises both the typical Welsh number 14, a spark with great feet who could start and finish tries, as well as fitting the current blueprints for a 21st century winger- A Lomu-style lump who finishes like it's nobodies business. The best teenager to ever play the game. End of.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Conrad Smith, Jonathan Davies
I'll admit it: The great mans' powers are fading. I'd argue the case for him being greatest outside centre of all time, but in the recent test series against New Zealand you could almost see this shirt swinging in Conrad Smith's favour. I was looking for a picture of Smith to put here. Then I remembered the Heineken Cup final and how instrumental O'Driscoll was in breaking Ulsters' spirits. Perhaps he's become more likely to have quiet games, but when O'Driscoll's on top of his game, he's still the arguably the best player in the world and as such deserves this shirt.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Sonny Bill Williams, Jamie Roberts
Somewhat of a controversial choice here, but I think Mapusua is an absolutely remarkable player. While Sonny Bill Williams is close to having built an all-round game and Roberts provides even more crash-bang-wallop than the Samoan, I doubt we'll ever see a more creative player in the frame of the former London Irish man. He offloads like Williams, crashes it up like Roberts, picks lines like Fofana, tackles like any Samoan and has alarmingly deft hands and an eye for an intercept. Most men his size purely use that. Mapusua reads the game and plays using the whole range of skills. And, as such, in my eyes, he's the best 12 in the world.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Bryan Habana, Alesana Tuilagi
Defensive plan for beating Australia: Close down Genia quickly. Put pressure on Cooper (Provided he's playing, natch). And don't, don't, under any circumstances, let Ioane get the ball. Very few players break the line with the ease Ioane does, and even fewer know how to finish those chances like him. Solidly built, extremely quick and deceptively elusive, he's a spark, he's a poacher, he's generally world class. Such an exciting player that even in opposition, you can't help but hope that he does end up with the ball...
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Francois Trinh-Duc, Aaron Cruden
Who else? For all of two seconds I thought about selecting Frances' Trinh-Duc or Argentinas' Juan Martin Hernandez for the sake of being controversial, because both are incredibly classy players and amongst my favourites, but Dan is, indeed, the man. He pulls the strings, the puppet that is the All Blacks operates beautifully. Fellow Kiwi Cruden has lately looked incredibly lively and so sneaks onto the 'Bubbling under' list, but nobody can grab a game by the scruff of the neck and drag it through the victory machine like Daniel William Carter.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Francois Hoogard, Mike Blair
Yeah, Genia's brilliant. he's got it all. The first test against Wales in Queensland was a masterclass in scrum half play. I don't really have to say any more. Hoogard has really, really impressed me this summer, having been good in both the World Cup and last Tri-Nations while Blair is a massively underrated player, but a far better rugby brain and not to mention service than the massively overrated Mike Phillips.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Tony Woodcock, Tendai 'Beast' Mtwareria
A strong scrummager, but where Geth gets his edge over the other quality looseheads is his ability in defence. Not just in terms of the sheer number of tackles he makes (He made more tackles than any of Wales' backs, all of whom played more games than him, in the Six Nations) and then his ability to turn the ball over at the breakdown. He's also a handy carrier, and, as his wonder try against Namibia showed, more than capable of providing sometimes extra that no other prop can.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Kevin Mealamu, Rory Best
Having waited patiently behind John Smit, probably aware that he was undoubtedly better than his national captain, Du Plessis has really grasped his chance when it was given to him.Playing more like a number 8 in the loose yet a terrific scrummager and thrower in the tight, he now really deserves the praise heaped upon him for the past few seasons.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Ronnie Roncero, Martin Castrogiovanni
A good team is, 9 times out of 10, (Australia are the obvious exception, natch) built upon a good scrum. And, as such, a huge part of the teams success is based around its tighthead prop, the anchor of the scrum, the cornerstone of the pack, the man on whose shoulders (Literally) dominating or being dominated rests. And nobody is better at dominating opposition scrums than Adam Jones. Shane Williams' tries and Dan Biggars kick aside, the key reason the Ospreys won the Pro12 final, he's won enough kickable penalties at scrum time this season to make the government sit up and wonder whether they could be used as an alternative energy supply, such is the surplus. Utterly, utterly world class.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Ian Evans, Paul O'Connell
Richie Gray is incredible. About 900 feet tall and 8000 stone heavy, and that doesn't include the weight of hair dye. A stand-out player not just for his physical appearance, but for his style of play as well. He crashes through the line like nothing on this Earth, one of the most effective carrying second rows in the world as well as a very solid tackler and a brilliant line-out operator. Not just the best player in Scotland by a country mile (Or one stride for big Richie) but one of the top chuckers of a rugby ball in the world.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Sam Whitelock, Alistair Kellock
You don't normally assosiate Australia with world-class tight-five forwards, but the Ozzie captain bucks that trend. One of the world's top line-out jumpers, Horwill is also a fine carrier of the ball and handy at the breakdown. Narrowly beats out Whitelock, despite the Kiwi's great form as of late, while I'm still very impressed by Scotland's Kellock, who, in my opinion, never should have lost their captaincy. But, yeah, Howill. He's great.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Danny Lydiate, Jerome Kaino
Look at the picture to the left. Study it closely. Cherish it. Because there won't be many like it. This is one of the incredibly rare moments in a game of rugby in which Dusatoir is not making a tackle or clearing out a ruck or generally getting through the level of work that normally an entire back row would be proud of on his own. Famed for his 38 tackles against the All Blacks in 2007, his man of the match, try scoring performance in last years World Cup final was fittingly the best I've seen a flanker play since that infamous quarter-final five years ago.Deservedly IRB World Player of the Year because, well, he is the best player in the world. There's no more to it.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Richie McCaw, Sam Warburton
An absolutely outstanding player. Nabs turnovers like it's nobodies business, and not even the attention of Lydiate & Warburton could keep him quiet during the recent test series against Wales. He's also useful with the ball in hand and runs good support angles. Basically, he's everything you'd want a 7 to be. Warburton's dropped off this summer while McCaw isn't quite the player he once was, but is still a remarkable athlete. Honorable mentions for Ross Rennie of Scotland, who had a fantastic Six Nations and then went on to become the only player I've seen neutralise Pocock and Justin Tipuric, the young Ospreys openside who could and probably should have usurped Warburton by now and certainly has a big future ahead of him.
Close but no hypothetical cigar: Juan Martin Ferandez Lobbe, Kieran Reed
The reason Italy are a respectable team. He abolutely carries the side on his hefty shoulders, relishing the captaincy and always leading from the front. Superb in every aspect of the game, he's head and shoulders above all other 8s in world rugby, combining the raw power of Lobbe or Morgan with the tackling of Faletau, skills of Reed and even emulating the great Zinzan Brooke with his ability to drop a goal and kick the ball with the best of fly halves. I can't think of a better player with whom to finish this post...
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