Our World Cup XV — traditionally revealed after the autumn international series every year, and based squarely on form during the series — probably does not reflect the Kiwi superiority in that only six New Zealanders make the line-up. Yet the hidden point is that almost every All Black contended for a position and, such is the collective will of that team, there is a case for simply choosing the whole lot. Yet that would be unfair to the many individuals who have played to true world class in other jerseys this past month.
We will never know if Ireland could have done any damage to the All Blacks this autumn but they did finish runners-up in the sense that, through their performances against South Africa and Australia, the Irish qualified for a putative silver medal. They also have five players in our World XV, easily an Irish record.
Another record lies in the identity of the countries not represented. It is remarkable that none of England, France or South Africa have a single player, but what is more remarkable still is how very few players from those once-great rugby teams were live contenders. It has been an autumn to forget for all three.
There was intense competition for many of the positions, which is, perhaps, a reflection of the strength of the Pumas. They may be ignored by the international rugby community at large, but not by this newspaper.
Frankly, and even allowing for the glut of fine hookers around the world — Keven Mealamu of New Zealand, Raphaël Ibanez and Dimitri Szarzewski of France and others — the runaway winner was the marvellous veteran Mario Ledesma of Argentina. Ledesma’s brilliant performance at Twickenham will live long in the memory and there could even have been a fourth Argentinian in the team, with Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe on the verge. The glorious talent of Juan-Martín Hernández of the Pumas edged out Chris Latham, whose performance at full-back for Australia against Wales almost defied belief.
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The omission of Daniel Carter obviously takes some explaining and does not mean for a moment that he is not the leading fly-half in the world at present. It is just that Carter took an armchair ride this autumn, in a magnificent team. In our view, by a small margin, the more praiseworthy achievement was that of the oft-maligned (in these pages, occasionally) Ronan O’Gara, the living denial of the theory that an old dog cannot learn new tricks.
O’Gara’s steady advancement toward rugby’s defensive traffic has transformed Ireland’s options and consequently made the centre partnership of Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy look even more deadly.
Similarly, our selection at scrum-half does not represent the most talented player of the era in that position. Both Dwayne Peel of Wales and Matt Giteau of Australia, and several others, might be deemed to have more of a range of scrum-half talent than the All Black Byron Kelleher. But Kelleher is such an important influence with his power and danger at close quarters that he often appears to be the engine of the whole team.
European youth gets a look-in in the back row. Ryan Jones was one of the few 2005 British & Irish Lions to play to world class on that tour and his return to full fitness after an appalling series of injuries has transformed the option for Wales in their pack. The hard yards gained by Jones this autumn were a testimony to power and class. In a completely different style, the mobile Gonzalo Longo of Argentina was also effective.
The fastest bolter is definitely Neil Best, of Ireland. Back-row roles change as the years go by, depending on the whims of coaches and the athletic and technical abilities of the men at their disposal. Best, in many respects, is a thoroughly modern player but, at a time when too many coaches simply cannot make up their minds about flanking roles, Best makes up Ireland’s mind on his own.
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It strikes me that here we have an archetypal, ferocious, hard-hitting blindside flanker. You station the likes of Best on the blindside and, suddenly, the problems of balancing your back row simply fade away. It is far too soon to describe him as world class because, as with every new gunfighter in town, he will become a target for every nasty hit man around. But the early indications are that he has enough to cope.
Indeed, we would not expect liberties to be taken by anybody when they come up against our World XV pack. There is surely not a front row in the game that would relish packing down against Marcos Ayerza and Carl Hayman. Both have been immense this autumn. Admittedly, Ayerza was pushed all the way for selection by Tony Woodcock of New Zealand and also, remarkably, by the return of Phil Vickery to a new role on the loosehead side of the scrum. Vickery, conceivably, will remain as a loosehead now that Andrew Sheridan, a former selection in our world team, is out for the rest of the season.
Perhaps our two locks are players from the same mould although, as a pairing, Paul O’Connell and Chris Jack would give nightmares to any opposition — and especially to the opposition thrower-in. Jack may have been slightly muted but he remains one of the most important figures in the game. New Zealand do not have great locks at present. Any injury to Jack might cause just small realignment of the current world order.
Only on the wing was there a paucity of strong contenders. Our selection of the New Zealand pairing owes just a little to the service that they both received but in general it was not a vintage autumn for dazzle down the flanks. Yet selection, whether in the national squads or club rooms, is always subjective.
What is not subjective, currently, is the conviction that New Zealand are way out ahead, and that few of their players would let down our team of all the talents.