Northern vs Southern Hemisphere Teams - Who Would You Pick?
The June International Matches leaves me wondering if there should be a Northern vs Southern Hemisphere rugby series at the end of the year, so some players who are injured now would still be available.
In the blue corner we have the Northern Hemisphere the winners of one Rugby World Cup (2003), but with plenty of money, history and population at their disposal. In the red corner we have the Southern Hemisphere with six Rugby World Cups between them and featuring the mighty All Blacks and Springboks. There are far more teams in the Northern Hemisphere, but you wonder if this would help their team. This match wouldn't necessarily have to include players from every single team in that hemisphere, so you could have heaps of All Blacks in the one team if they
are good enough.
Anyway, here are my teams, tell me what you think!
Southern Hemisphere:
15 Kurtley Beale (AUS)
14 Cory Jane (NZL)
13 Conrad Smith (NZL)
12 Sonny Bill Williams (NZL)
11 Bryan Habana (RSA)
10 Dan Carter (NZL)
9 Will Genia (AUS)
8 Kieran Read (NZL)
7 David Pocock (AUS)
6 Willem Alberts (RSA)
5 Andries Bekker (RSA)
4 James Horwill (AUS)
3 Jannie Du Plessis (RSA)
2 Bismarck Du Plessis (RSA)
1 Tony Woodcock (NZL)
Reserves
16 Tatafu Polota-Nau (AUS)
17 Tendai "The Beast" Mtawarira (RSA)
18 Sam Whitelock (NZL)
19 Scott Higginbotham (AUS)
20 Francois Hougaard (RSA)
21 Francois Steyn (RSA)
22 James O'Connor (AUS)
There are:
7 Australia
7 New
Zealand
8 South Africa
There are plenty of unlucky players what changes would you make to the Southern Hemisphere team? Higginbotham for Alberts? Spies for Read? Contepomi or Nonu for SBW? Conrad Smith or would you include Jacque Fourie or Jean De Villiers? Ioane or Drew Mitchell for Habana?
Northern Hemisphere:
15 Leigh Halfpenny (WAL)
14 Vincent Clerc (FRA)
13 Brian O'Driscoll (IRE)
12 Jamie Roberts (WAL)
11 George North (WAL)
10 Jonathon Sexton (IRE)
9 Mike Phillips (WAL)
8 Sergio Parisse (ITA)
7 Thierry Dusautoir (FRA)
6 Dan Lydiate (WAL)
5 Richie Gray (SCO)
4 Paul O'Connell (IRE)
3 Nicolas Mas (FRA)
2 Rory Best (IRE)
1 Cian Healy (IRE)
Reserves
16 Ross Ford (SCO)
17 Martin Castrogiovanni (ITA)
18 Bradley Davies (WAL)
19 Imanol Harinordoquy (FRA)
20 Dimitri Yachvili (FRA)
21 Rhys Priestland (WAL)
22 Manu Tuilagi (ENG)
Northern Hemisphere players
5 France
5 Ireland
7 Wales
2 Italy
2 Scotland
1 England
The main point of conjecture is openside flanker. Thierry Dusatoir must be in the team, while Sam Warburton, Sean O'Brien, Chris Robshaw and Ross Rennie are all good players, but obviously
they can't all fit in the team.
What do you think of the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere rugby teams? Who would you put in these teams? Who would win this match?
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