Share
19th April 2018
03:15pm BST
"Stander is definitely the best project player, in terms of what he has delivered, what he has come through, his success and the way he has bought into the Munster culture," I argued. "If you were doing up a slide-show on the success of that scheme and why we should keep it, Stander would be the front page.
"In terms of overall best import, Doug Howlett is up there but it would be Isa Nacewa for me."
Downey, who has lined out for Munster, Leinster and Connacht looked a bit further back. He commented:
"I'd look at someone like Jim Williams and John Langford at Munster. You're right about Stander but, overall, you look at someone like Rocky Elsom. He won something. Isa won. Dougie won. They're winning trophies. To have that tick beside the name is something else. "Jim Williams' impact at Munster was huge; and Langford. The players there spoke so highly of Langford. Brad Thorn is another one who made an impact at Leinster."When McGeady threw the name of Ulster Legend Ruan Pienaar into the mix, Downey's reply prepares captures that winning mentality behind some of Munster and Leinster's best teams. "Yeah," he reasoned, "but no trophies." "When you're finished," Downey continued, "people ask about trophies, No-one asks, 'Oh, what did you come runner up in?'" That may sound harsh but when it comes to deciding on 'best ever', the highest praise doesn't come easy. In the final twist, the three of us settled on this top 5:
Explore more on these topics:
