Monday, September 24, 2007

World Cup Dream Team

Rhett gave me the idea of naming my World Cup team so far based on the form of teams at this early stage of the tournament. So I'm gonna lay it out with a further thought: I will update this team every Monday till the final...

1. Tony Woodcock
2. John Smit
3. Carl Hayman*
4. Ali Williams
5. Victor Matfield*
6. Jerry Collins
7. Richie McCaw*
8. Juan Manuel Leguizamon
9. Fourie Du Preez*
10. Dan Carter*
11. Doug Howlett
12. Felipe Contepomi
13. Stirling Mortlock
14. Brian Habana*
15. Chris Latham

I'm thinking there will be some changes next week! Asterixed players are already selected for my final team - another way of saying they are head and shoulders the best in their positions in the world.

3 comments:

Rhett said...

Good team.

For me 1 was hard to pick as there haven't been any real standout props other than Hayman. Ali Williams was a close one for me. Perhaps I picked Chabal ahead of him because Chabal looks like an extra from the first battle scene in Gladiator, or perhaps it's because Ali Williams acts like a douche when the All Blacks do the Haka.

I don't think Dan Carter is anywhere near his full potential right now. If I was inclined to go with the evidence of one game I'd almost go with Wilkinson, though Michilak (sic?) is growing in stature too.

Howlett is my wing of the tournament so far. Sure, Habanna has blinding pace and great skills, but Howlett is such a hard worker, fantastic on defence (for a guy who looks like a soccer player he puts in some big hits) and is such an enthusiastic player. Being a fan of the ABs might make me a bit biased though.

Fourie Du Preez is a freak. And I had to have Jason Robinson in there ahead of Latham just for putting more heart into a single game than any other player so far. Pity he got injured.

Other awards... Best National Anthem: Portugal. Best hair: Finau Maka. Worst hair: Percy Montgomery.

I think this is turning into a great RWC. The minnows are doing better than ever before, and there are some real larger than life characters coming through... the likes of Chabal, Maka and Collins, not to mention newer players like Steyn.

Plus the upsets and oh-so-close to being upsets.

Anonymous said...

Thanks! But the key point is:

What do these players ALL have in common?

Rhett said...

Ah yes, they are all Southern Hemisphere players.

Can't really argue with that. The quality players from the north have been few and far between this WC. Wilkinson looked good in his last game and Chabal makes an awesome impact player but that's about it!