top 100 players

[astralweeks]

according to the daily telegraph.

1. Beauden Barrett
2. Brodie Betalick
3...Guess who?

Luckily he is English

[Renniks]

Brad Barritt?

[Renniks]

(Is it possible to share top 20 list for those of us who don't want to pay the telegraph ££)

[Banquo]

Brad Barritt?

B-brilliant

[astralweeks]

does this work?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-world ... five-20-1/

[Renniks]

Not for me,

But NZ herald have shared a list (now after sharing it, I'm unsure if this is the same list)

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/a ... d=12267634

[Renniks]

So, to clarify, Owen Farrell is seen as a better player than AWJ?!

I'd probably trade half the England team (inc. Farrell) for AWJ and locks are pretty much our best unit!

[Mikey Brown]

I have no idea why you'd do that but okay.

[Oakboy]

How can opinion vary so much? IMO, Farrell cannot be in the top 45 players on the grounds that he would not get into the top three teams selected from world rugby.

[Renniks]

I have no idea why you'd do that but okay.

Because he has pretty much every aspect that we seem to be lacking as a team… Leadership, grit, determination… (Of the actual kind, not shouting and tackling illegally) --- As well as being one of the top 4 locks in the world right now

[switchskier]

Only 2 southern hemisphere players in the top ten and no South Africans?

[Banquo]

Owen Farrell isn't in the top three players in his family.

[Beasties]

[Digby]

That does seem a bit harsh, Farrell is better than some of the writing here suggests, even if I'm not convinced he's a test starter

[Banquo]

That does seem a bit harsh, Farrell is better than some of the writing here suggests, even if I'm not convinced he's a test starter

Andy Farrell and Sean O'Loughlin in their own sports are/were better than Owen. But it was by way of a joke. I agree Faz is a good bench option.

[morepork]

Even the narrative for Farrell's inclusion reads like a Commando comic on ketamine. There are no tangible metrics that make him "better" over and above a vague description of grit. Fucking laughable.

[Digby]

Even the narrative for Farrell's inclusion reads like a Commando comic on ketamine. There are no tangible metrics that make him "better" over and above a vague description of grit. Fucking laughable.

Do you think there's any chance NZ wouldn't pick him? You don't really have any centres or goal kicking options

[Timbo]

Even the narrative for Farrell's inclusion reads like a Commando comic on ketamine. There are no tangible metrics that make him "better" over and above a vague description of grit. Fucking laughable.

Do you think there's any chance NZ wouldn't pick him? You don't really have any centres or goal kicking options

100% they’d pick him as first choice 12.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of how some people might feel about him, the fact is no coach has ever not picked Farrell as an important cog in their team- from McCall to Lancaster, Eddie Jones and Gatland they’ve not only picked him, but built their squads around him.

[morepork]

At 12 possibly, but we have Crotty, Laumape, SBW, ALB, and I'd have any of them over Farrell. Farrell isn't exactly a play making 12 in the mold of an Aaron Mauger or anything. I don't see the leadership in him either. He's too much a chippy prick. I just don't get building a team around him. He doesn't orchestrate the attack, doesn't distribute well, and just pops up when the halfback doesn't box kick it. He is one of the weakest links in this England team IMO. You are close to having a scary team, but that isn't going to happen with Farrell at the tiller.

[Stom]

Bingo, Porky.

But, that list as a whole is a piece of crap.

I know it's really tough to pick a 100 top players list because each position is different.

But if you were picking your World XV, your 10 wouldn't be "nailed on Barrett".

So I don't see how he's #1.

Your first pick at lock would probably be Retallick, while Mako would be first pick 1, surely. If you're looking elsewhere, is there any other position where the first player you'd pick for the position is the obvious choice?

Billy at 8? Smith at SH? A case can be made for Whitelock.

So surely the top 5 would be, in no particular order:

Retallick, Mako, Billy, Smith, Whitelock.

Then you can get into the others. Furlong, May (not in the top 20? My arse: he's been consistently excellent on the wing for a good while now. No-one in the NH comes close and NZ have just changed their wings, so I'd say he's literally the best wing in the world right now), Barrett, Pocock. OK, maybe Pocock gets into the top 5, too...

[Digby]

I don't know NZ have any much better options than Farrell at 12, maybe Crotty if his head wasn't made of paper mâché, Crotty has better decision making but doesn't have the same passing game.

Also on Farrell, he's rated by a huge number of players across the game, so it's possible we're quite wrong in our preference for not picking him

[morepork]

But he doesn't actually do very much on the field. Crotty isn't renowned for his passing game, but it's still better than Farrells, and his positional acumen is far superior. I'm not sure the converse argument would hold any water at all. Crotty's head is fucked though.

[Danno]

At 12 possibly, but we have Crotty, Laumape, SBW, ALB, and I'd have any of them over Farrell. Farrell isn't exactly a play making 12 in the mold of an Aaron Mauger or anything. I don't see the leadership in him either. He's too much a chippy prick. I just don't get building a team around him. He doesn't orchestrate the attack, doesn't distribute well, and just pops up when the halfback doesn't box kick it. He is one of the weakest links in this England team IMO. You are close to having a scary team, but that isn't going to happen with Farrell at the tiller.

Fucking hell, this, this and more of this.

[Puja]

Bingo, Porky.

But, that list as a whole is a piece of crap.

I know it's really tough to pick a 100 top players list because each position is different.

But if you were picking your World XV, your 10 wouldn't be "nailed on Barrett".

So I don't see how he's #1.

Your first pick at lock would probably be Retallick, while Mako would be first pick 1, surely. If you're looking elsewhere, is there any other position where the first player you'd pick for the position is the obvious choice?

Billy at 8? Smith at SH? A case can be made for Whitelock.

So surely the top 5 would be, in no particular order:

Retallick, Mako, Billy, Smith, Whitelock.

Then you can get into the others. Furlong, May (not in the top 20? My arse: he's been consistently excellent on the wing for a good while now. No-one in the NH comes close and NZ have just changed their wings, so I'd say he's literally the best wing in the world right now), Barrett, Pocock. OK, maybe Pocock gets into the top 5, too...

I'd agree with most of that. If I were picking a World XV tomorrow (if everyone was fit), I'd probably have:

Mako
George/Coles
Sinckler
Retallick
...probably Whitelock, but Ryan, AWJ, and Itoje would be close.
Du Toit
Pocock
BillyV

Smith
Not sure, but certainly not f*cking Farrell as he's not even the best English 10. Probably Barrett actually
May
Fofana
Ringrose
Kolby? Not sure
Hogg

So I'd say all 15 of those would be ahead of Farrell at the bare minimum.

Puja

[morepork]

I'd have Ardie Savea ahead of Pocock