End of year selections always spark debates. This rugby XV is no different.
L'Equipe has selected its Team of the Year and we don't have many complaints. Well... we have a couple.
At a push, we have a few.
The respected French rugby outlet has gone heavy on All Blacks in their Best XV of 2016. Given that New Zealand extended their winning streak to 18 games [
before Chicago] and swept The Rugby Championship, it is little surprise to see their players fill eight positions.
Grand Slam champions England, who won all 13 of their games in 2016, have four representatives.
The rest of the team is made up of Scottish tight-head WP Nel, French winger Virimi Vakatawa and Irish blindside CJ Stander.
https://twitter.com/MPsportsdragon/status/812575994242547717
Ireland went through 2016 with a less than stellar record [six wins, one draw, five defeats] but finished their year on such a high that one would expect a couple more selections.
In the final six months of the year, Ireland beat South Africa and New Zealand away from home and accounted for world number three, Australia at the Aviva Stadium.
The stand-out scrum-half in world rugby at present is
Conor Murray. If he had not already proved that, his stunning November Series was a true wake-up call.
There is a very, very strong case to be made for
Tadhg Furlong to be tight-head. He had a replacements role for the Six Nations but excelled in the Second Test against the Springboks and was pure class in the All Blacks games and the win over Australia.
Jamie Heaslip, who was nominated for World Player of the Year, can also feel hard done by to miss out.
English rugby supporters may argue that Chris Robshaw should beat Stander to the blindside role [although L'Equipe have him in the No.7 jersey] while there is also a case for Ben Youngs and James Haskell's inclusions.
