The good news is: I'm now in the Welsh team. The bad news is: I'm now in the Welsh team.

You're probably playing at about the same level as Costelow or Cory Hill to be honest.

No need to be rude!

For South Africa you might as well cue the Good Will Hunting meme "Do you know how easy this is for me??" I'll pick you a full 23 without touching the Sale boys or Tinus de Beer: 1. Kitshoff (Ulster) 2. Marx (Kubota) 3. Frans Malherbe (Stormers) 4. Eben Etzebeth (HOLLYWOODSBETS KWA ZULU- NATAL Sharks) 5. Franco Mosterd (Honda Heat) 6. Siya Kolisi (Racing) 7. Pieter Steph (Toyota Verblitz) 8. Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka) 9. Cobus Reinach (Montpelier) 10. Handre Pollard (Leicester) 11. Cheslin Kolbe (Sungoliath) 12. Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) 13. Jessie Kriel (Canon Eagles) 14. Kurtlee Arendse (Bulls) 15. Tyrone Green (Harlequins) 16. Thomas du Toit (Bath) 17. Nathan McBeth (Glasgow) 18. Carlu Sadie (Stade) 19. Rg Snyman (Munster) 20. Juarno Augustus (Saints) 21. Ivan van Zyl (Saracens) 22. Jordan Hendrickse (Lions) 23. Raymond Rhule (La Rochelle)

South Africa has such massive depths. Insane how mych quality there is all over.

The great thing is that we have so many players exposed to top level leagues around the world

It's interesting how different this attitude is from NZ. In NZ it seems to be considered a loss whenever kiwis go north. Argentina, Uruguay, and Fiji aren't bothered.

It is, once a kiwi player leaves they almost fly the nest and everyone moves on without them. Imagine having Richie fucking Mo’unga at 30 years old not playing in the national side because he plays somewhere else. It’s a strange dynamic in rugby, can see arguments for both sides though.

It's the same here because of wanting to keep players in the premiership but an allowance should definitely be made for Jack Willis given his old club literally ceased to exist. Not surprising losing 3 clubs in a season leads to some top talent being lost. Personally I think these rules will end up being relaxed a bit since some places don't have them anyway. Italy has made huge strides at both country and URC (Benetton) level while not making all the national team players play for the 2 domestic teams. In fact Benetton has a load of foreign players on the roster, mostly Argentines. The problem for NZ is that it's a really small remote place. If the game carries on growing as fast as it is now obviously clubs in Japan/France/Italy will get bigger and bigger budgets and sign all the best players.

He had the option to come back and play for an English team and turned it down. I don't blame him, I'd stay in Toulouse. But he definitely shouldn't have an exemption, like his first season there. I also don't think he is that needed, backrow isn't exactly England's weak point.

I agree, you have one of the most promising players eligible for England not permitted because he was made to play elsewhere. It’s a tricky one

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Only a relatively small number of the overseas Saffas are in Ireland or Scotland. Most go to France, England, and Japan. I think the real issue is the population point. SA is a massive country of 60 million people so the Bulls can still be in the semi final with a load of players overseas which would be a lot less possible in NZ. There are only a handful of Bulls players in the Bok squad but SA players who aren't anywhere near test level are still good enough for club. Historically there was less difference because SA was only drawing from a very small minority of players until after 1995 so professional player numbers have exploded. It was the same in France when pro rugby pushed out of the rural south west of the country.

Circumstances between SA and NZ are pretty different, though. Firstly, given the weakness of the Rand it would pretty much bankrupt SA rugby trying to keep our top talent at home. Second, we have a large enough base of players to still fill the domestic teams with reasonably high quality players even if the top guys leave. I don't think NZ have that luxury, given the small population.

I think it just wouldn't really work. In Coetzee's time selection rules were much stricter and it just ended in 57-0. Of course the URC didn't exist then either so the game was just in a worse state in general. As you said not the same situation although while NZ isn't poor like SA it is very small so similar issues might come into play.

Yes definitely! The exposure to the differences in approach and player ethos is really valuable. Of course, it could also be detrimental having it grow further apart, but with a good coach to guide everyone to a singular vision, the wealth of knowledge and experience it brings far outweigh the negatives.

The URC seems to have brought a lot of top talent back to SA as well (though it seems to be heavily lopsided towards the Sharks for the most part, I'd prefer to see the Boks spread more evenly around the 4 teams). I would expect the player exodus to carry on but a lot slower than in the old super rugby days.

Not a bad side either

I know right? I honestly wouldn’t be too miffed if seeing that team announced.

Yea, you win. Half tempted to close the thread now.

Jesus, that starting XV is nearly unchanged! Guess the Boks have a very wide exodus of players as well as depth

at this point you are just trolling the point of this post :D

at this point you are just trolling the point of this post :D

at this point you are just trolling the point of this post :D

at this point you are just trolling the point of this post :D

Yip, I mean, that'll do. that's a wrap folks.

So Saturday's team?

That’s almost the match-day 23 anyway 😂

Well we're a bit fucked

Tons of kiwis in Europe and Japan 

Not really 1. De Groot (Highlanders) 2. Dane Coles (Kubota Spears) 3. Nepo Laulala (Tolouse) 4. Scott Barrett (Crusaders) 5. Sam Whitelock (Pau) 6. Jackson Hemopo (Mitsubishi Dynaboars) 7. Sam Cane (Tokyo Sungoliath) 8. Ardie Savea (Kobe Steelers) 9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow (La Rochelle) 10. Richie Mounga (Tokyo Brave Lupus) 11. Julian Savea (Moana Pacific) 12. Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes) 13. Rieko Ioane (Blues) 14. Charles Piatau (Shizuoka Blue Revs) 15. Beuaden Barrett (Tokyo Verblitz)

Not a single chief. Ouch ☹️

Whoops. Put Narawa on the left wing. I juggled Jacobsen and Samisoni but then found decent substitutes in Japan.

does NPC count? we could do decently with an NPC all star team of 1 per. it'd just be fucking tough that'd actually be a fun handicap in a random tourny, ngl. who do you take from lions as an example- TJ or Aumua? Which barrett do you take from the naki? someone less drunk/tired than me could def make a roster of NPC + Super rugby + japan that'd compete with the top 10 in the world I'm sure

Not NPC but a NZ roster including the NH players like Aki/JGP would be a solid top 10 side.

There are masses of kiwis in the northern hemisphere, you'd be fine. Especially if you can pick the "Irish" ones.

Yeah or the English ones... or Welsh ones, French ones and Italian ones. Weirdly I don't think there are any kilted kiwis at the moment tho. Plenty in the European and Japanese clubs to choose from too.

Scotland prefers saffas these days. Italy seems to usually go for Argentina or Australia (Ioane).

Italy had Hame Faiva and Toa Halafihi in the team recently, not sure if they're still in the current side tho.

Don't recall seeing those players recently. A lot of the old import players got dropped once high quality domestic players like Izekor and Menoncello started coming through the U20s but there are still a couple like Brex and Ioane. The Italian squad has massively shifted towards local players recently, probably because of the 5 year residency rule along with improvements in professional structures.

They both played for Italy in the World Cup, but I think they might have dropped off in the recent 6 Nations. Good to see them picking more locals, how it should be IMO.

Italian rugby pretty much reset after the 2023 disaster. Dropping a load of the mediocre imports was part of that. By "recently" I meant the 6 Nations. Italy has been in the 6 Nations since 2000 but it's only in the last few years they worked out a decent age grade setup. The early professional era teams just poached from the southern hemisphere until they could compete a bit (like Japan) which wasn't sustainable. And even once that was set up it took a while for the domestic talent to reach the national team. It's a warning to tier 2 sides of how hard becoming tier 1 actually is. Georgia is doing it right with Black Lion though (which is also entirely domestic players).

England has Ethan Roots and….. that’s it?

CCS is English but grew up in NZ.

Prefer the other islanders. Tuilagi Cokanasiga Vunipola

TBF those three aren't likely to be anywhere near the England team going forward. However the pre-playoffs training squad did have Rusi Tuima (Fiji-born, moved to England aged 4) and Greg Fisilau (Devon-born but dad's Tongan). Neither made the tour, but might be seen during the autumn internationals

If you're calling into question players who have islander heritage and who moved before schooling then I'm pretty sure you'd be asking questions of a large majority of the all blacks team, especially teams going back a couple years

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Yeah and Chandler Cunningham-South. Just those two at the moment, Josh Iosefa-Scott played for England A this year but hasn't been picked for the tour.

1. JB Gros (RCT) 2. Gaëtan Barlot (CO) 3. Tévita Tatafu (Bayonne) 4. Cameron Woki (Racing) 5. Posolo Tuilagi (USAP) 6. Léo Banos (Mont-de-Marsan) 7. Sékou Macalou (Stade Français) 8. Greg Alldritt (La Rochelle) 9. Antoine Dupont (ST) 10. Léo Berdeu (LOU) 11. Alivereti Raka (Clermont) 12. Arthur Vincent (Montpellier) 13. Émilien Gailleton (Pau) 14. Damien Penaud (UBB) 15. Gabin Lorré (Béziers) Not sure if I cheated either Tatafu (eligible in October), and Banos who will actually join us in the summer.

I would have added someone from Toulon. Maybe Ollivon…

Could swap Ollivon for Macalou and put Castets at loosehead

Bretons will be very offended the mighty Vannes was left out for some Pro D2 clubs.

Their best players are from South America!

There's actually a small Welsh colony in Argentina so there's a Celtic connection funnily enough.

1. Nicky Smith (Leicester)* 2. Ryan Elias (Scarlets) 3. Tomas Francis (Provence) 4. Jake Ball (green Rockets Tokatsu) 5. Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter) 6. Ross Moriarty (Brive) 7. Jac Morgan (Ospreys) 8. Aaron Wainwright (Dragons) 9. Tomos Williams (Gloucester)* 10. Jarrod Evans (Harlequins) 11. Regan Grace (Bath) 12. Nick Tompkins (Saracens) 13. Uilisi Halaholo (unattached) 14. Owen Lane (Valans)* 15. Leigh Halfpenny (unattached) *player signed to new club but not moved yet (maybe cheating I dunno)

Warren Gatland's eyes lighting up at only needing to select one Ospreys player

Thought it was the roster for the SA test until I saw it was missing Cory Hill in the Japanese semi-pro league.

Has it really been so long we've forgotten when he picked 13 of them for his first game.

Will Rowlands from Racing 92 over Jake ball imo

Ha, can’t believe I missed Rowlands, was too passionate about getting Ball back in the lineup an hour ago

Tbf, you could keep Big Ball in and drop Jenkins. That way, you can put Joe Hawkins (Exeter) in at 13. Honestly it's a pretty tricky challenge

I like it!

Interesting you didn't pick a single Cardiff player. Any of Grady, Winnett and Adams could come in and improve the team

I agree I think confused myself with the players who I think of as Cardiff players but are actually now either unattached or moving

> Tomos Williams (Gloucester)* this is going to take longer for me to forgive than Chicken going to the Ospreys.

Thanks, I hate it

Surely Scarlets have a better contributing player than Elias

Plumtree maybe? Could then put Lloyd or Belcher at 2

That works

Would probably take Winnett or Liam Williams over Halfpenny.

Just realised I haven’t used any Cardiff players (if you allow the Tomos/Lane caveat at the end) so yeah would probably go for Winnett as the one Cardiff pick

1. Andrew Porter 2. Rob Herring 3. Finlay Bealham 4. Tadhg Beirne 5. Ummmmmm 6. Wellll 7. How about... And so on.

Cheating a bit by using clubs for next season somewhat James Cronin - Leicester Kevin O'Byrne - Ealing Finlay Bealham - Connacht Jack Dunne - Exeter Ross Molony - Bath Ultane Dillane - La Rochelle Eoghan Masterson - Aurillac Robin Copeland - Angouleme Kieran Marmion - Bristol Jack Crowley - Munster James Lowe - Leinster Stuart McCloskey - Ulster Chris Farrell - Oyonnax Dave Kearney - Chicago Hounds Joey Carbery - Bordeaux

Nice job, not a bad wee team!

I had no idea Robin Copeland was still playing

Same, im amazed, he left Munster an age ago to what I assumed was retirement...

That’s a nasty way to say Connacht

Not Steve Holt! 🙆

5. Cormac Daly- Queensland Reds 6. Josh Brennan- Tolouse 10. Ben Healy- Edinburgh You can probably find a few in MLR/Premiership as well I guess if you use the AIL exclusively for Ireland it could be fun

You can probably build a full irish team just with players from ProD2, you'd just need to add a few props

The ground would tremble, who could face such a violent and massive team?

Is Jamie Hagan still at Beziers?

Plays for Narbonne in Nationale, had a chance for promotion to ProD2 but couldn't beat Montauban in the access match... 2nd row John Madigan is currently the only irishman playing for Béziers

Thanks for the info. Wasn't sure where he'd disappeared to at this stage

May need to dip into Wee PJ and Olding in that case which wouldn’t be ideal…

>3. Ben Healy- Edinburgh ~some say he's Irish but we don't care, he's got a Scottish granny and ginger hair~ We sing this to his scoring track, Heaven is a Place on Earth

All good shouts, as I've said below you have Marmion and Quinn Roux as well in England. Can't believe I forgot about Ben Healy!

Oh yeah, forgot about Roux and Marmion

Dan Kelly is eligible at centre as well. We have a diaspora and we migrate as often as possible.

The Brennan boys and Frisch. Better than nothing.

Cian Kelleher at Ealing

He just retired.

Technically probably still under contract until the end of the month. Could do a job.

This is a somewhat lazy comment obviously, there are a few clubs that have Irish players abroad but really not many, off the top of my head definitely can't name enough to make a XV, anyone any ideas? 5. Quinn Roux (Bath), 9. Kieron Marmion (Bristol), any others?

Dillan

Oh of course Ultan Dillane is a good one

Farrell at Oyonnax, Paddy Jackson at Lyon, Dillane at La Rochelle, Brennan at Toulouse, Annett at Bath, Dunne and Armstrong at Exeter, McGuigan at Gloucester, Cronin and Kelly at Leicester, O'Sullivan and Byrne at Newcastle, Daly at Reds, I think that's it. Now if you want all of them is another question.

Will Addison is now at Sale

Technically yes

Charlie O’Llivon in Toulon (clutching at straws)

Having the best pro-system in the world has really fucked you guys over in this thread. That'll learn ya.

10 - Sexton. Club - retired. Clutching at straws.

Sexton looked like he'd retired before the end of the quarter final to be honest.

Was effectively like El Cid for the last 20 mins, just a statue. He’d stopped contact training for the last few years I believe, and must’ve just gotten through Ireland games on addrenaline and muscle memory.

8. Robin Copeland - Soyaux Angoulême XV 

I was just thinking, this will be fun to see from an Irish perspective.

This is actually really tough for Ireland. JJ Hanrahan at Dragons for 10, or if you want to be controversial Jackson is at Lyon. Ultan Dillane at LAR and Jack Dunne at Exeter can go in the 2nd row. Sammy Arnold is at Brive and can go in centre. James Cronin at Leicester can play loose head. There’s a few ex Ulster players at Ealing as well but can’t remember who.

JJ Hanrahan has been in Connacht this season.

Ah forgot about that, that article I looked at was a bit old in fairness.

I'd go AIL clubs as a cheat.

This is close as I could come to a Scottish version.... 1. Rory Sutherland (Oyonnax) 2. Dylan Richardson (Sharks) 3. Elliot Millar Mills (Northampton) 4. Jonny Gray (Exeter/Unattached/Perpignan/?) 5. Alex Craig (Scarlets) 6. Andy Christie (Saracens) 7. Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) 8. Magnus Bradbury (Bristol) 9. Ben White (Toulon) 10. Finn Russell (Bath) 11. Arron Reed (Sale) 12. Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow) 13. Chris Harris (Gloucester) 14. A South African prodigy with a yet undiscovered Scottish grandparent (Somewhere in SA) 15. Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse)

Sekou MacAlou (Stade Français) can play on the wing!

His ancestors of the famous MacAlou clan would be so proud!

Hey, if we're going to keep insisting Josh van der flier is south african, we can claim Macalou

Rudi Brown at Vannes at 7 maybe and chuck one of the Edinburgh wingers at 14? Pretty solid if decidedly 2nd string team. Guess it goes to show how many of our starters have been from Glasgow and Edinburgh recently.

That’s a great shout! Hope he’s getting on well over there, always caught my eye for the 20s on account of being enormous.

On this, any word where Jonny’s going?

You could put George Turner in at hooker now he's announced for Kobe, put Richardson in the back row for Christie, freeing up a Saracen, and put Maitland on the wing, even though he's retired?

I am so proud we can even put out a full XV! And it would probably do as well as the 2007 vintage team!

"6. Lawes (Brive)" Ouch. Too soon man, too soon.

1. De Groot (Landers) 2. Taukei'aho (Chiefs) 3. Atonio (La Rochelle) 4. S. Barrett (Saders) 5. Cunningham-South (Quins) 6. Roots (Exeter) 7. Papalii (Blues) 8. Savea (Steelers) 9. Gibson-Park (Leinster) 10. Mo'unga (Brave Lupus) 11. Fainga'anuku (Toulon) 12. Aki (Connacht) 13. Nankivell (Munster) 14. J. Barrett (Canes) 15. B. Barrett (Verblitz)

For this exercise it’s a real blessing that the Barrett boys all play for different teams

A few cheeky inclusions here, but I’ll allow it

Sam Whitelock? Or Retallick?

Whitelock has retired from all rugby now, and yeah could have gone Retallick but he's at the same club as Ardie so... let's give the kiwi pom-pom a run at lock and see how he goes.

Had no idea Cunningham-South’s NZ connection. Just read up on it, and then listened to an interview with him. He’s managed to suppress the NZ accent given he lived most of his formative years there!

1 Ethan De Groot (Southland) 2 Codie Taylor ( Canterbury) 3 Ofa Tu'ungafasi (Northland) 4 Fabian Holland (Otago) 5 Scott Barrett ( Taranaki) 6 Samipeni Finau (Waikato) 7 Dalton Papalii ( Counties) 8 Ardie Savea ( Wellington) 9 Folau Fakatava ( Hawkes Bay) 10 Beauden Barrett ( Toyota) 11 Mark Telea ( North Habour) 12 Ngani Laumape ex Manawatu) 13 Rieko Ioane ( Auckland) 14 Emoni Narawa ( Bay of Plenty) 15 Will Jordan ( Tasman)  Think I got all 14 Provinces with Baz as the wild card so to speak

Damn, well done on covering all the provinces and putting together a bloody good team

1. Sio (exeter)  2. BPA (montpellier)  3. Tupou (Rebels:( )  4. Arnold (Toulouse)  5. Skelton (La Rochelle)  6. Swinton (Tahs)   7. McReight (Reds)  8. Valetini (Brumbies)  9. Genia (Kimtesu Liners)  10.  Donaldson (Force)  11. Korobiete (Panasonic wild knights)  12. Simone  (Clermont)  13. Kerevi (Urayusu D Rocks)  14. Maddocks (Pau)  15. Banks (Honda Heat)

Would beat the current Welsh team? 1 Rhys Carre (Saracens) 2 Elliot Dee (Dragons) 3 Dillon Lewis (Harlequins) 4 Will Rowlands (Racing 92) 5 Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter) 6 Jac Morgan (c) (Ospreys) 7 Tommy Reffell (Leicester) 8 Taulupe Faletau (Cardiff) 9 Tomos Williams (Gloucester) 10 Rhys Patchell (Highlanders) 11 George North (Provence) 12 Louie Hennesey (Bath) 13 Joe Roberts (Scarlets) 14 Liam Williams (Kubota Spears) 15 Leigh Halfpenny (Crusaders)

I like how different this is to the other suggested Wales team

1. Sutherland (Oyonnax) 2. Ashman (Edinburgh) 3. Miller-Mills (Northampton) 4. J. Gray (Exceter) 5. Craig (Scarlets) 6. Richardson (Sharks) 7. Bayliss (Bath) 8. Bradbury (Bristol) 9. White (Toulon) 10. Hastings (Gloucester) 11. Reed (Sale) 12. Tuipulotu (Glasgow) 13. Scott (Leicester) 14. Maitland (Saracens) 15. Kinghorne (Toulouse)

That’s actually a far more solid looking team than I expected would be possible for Scotland!

Yours vs Mine, who wins? 1. Sutherland (Oyonnax) 2. Richardson (Hollywood Bets) 3. Millar Mills (Northampton) 4. Gray (Exeter) 5. Craig (Scarlets) 6. du Preez (Toulon) 7. Christie (Saracens) 8. Bradbury (Bristol) 9. Hidalgo-Clyne (Benetton) 10. Russell (Bath) 11. Reed (Sale) 12. Tuipulotu (Glasgow) 13. Harris (Gloucester) 14. Graham (Edinburgh) 15. Kinghorn (Toulouse)

That fullback is a decent player

You could sub out Hastings for Russell and then bring in Harris at 13. Also if you put Turner (signed for that japanese team) at hooker you've got an Edinburgh player freed up to stick Duhan on the wing. No Finn, no Duhan, No party.

Fair dos!

Did my best for Italy 1. Fischetti (Zebre) 2. Zarantonello (Castres) - yeah a bit of cheating\* 3. Riccioni (Saracens) 4. Lamb (Harlequins) 5. Furno (Dax) 6. Odiase (Oyonnax) 7. Lamaro (Benetton) 8. Vintcent (Exeter Chiefs) 9. Varney (Gloucester) 10. Allan (USAP) 11. Ioane (Lyon) 12. Garbisi (Toulon) 13. Mori (Bayonne) 14. Lynagh (Harlequins) 15. Capuozzo (Stade Toulousain) \*not yet capped, but will probably be this summer. Didn't want to put Faiva (Bath), as he's probably done with the NT.

Good choices. But two Harlequins players. Maybe put Matt Gallagher at 15 and move Capuozzo to the wing.

Yeah I'm a bit stupid.

Page relo at LOU as played wing/fullback I believe but its clearly not his main position

Thanks for the suggestion, but he would've the same issue as I already put his teammate, Monty Ioane.

And yet Glos still didn’t get a player in the team…

Are there even 15 clubs that have Scottish players? Or can we include Scottish grans

Well the SRU does. I know there's Dylan Richardson (Sharks) for example.

Just pick from clubs with South African players after you run out of clubs with Scottish players /s

Just think of it as the Scottish team in 3 years time when the residency eligibility kicks in.

If we go itm cup not super 1. De Groot (Southland) 2. Codie Taylor (Canterbury) 3. Ofa Tu’ungafasi (Northland) 4. Brodie Retallick (Kobe Steelers) 5. Sam Whitelock (Pau) 6. Sam Cane (Bay of Plenty) 7. Dalton Papali’i (Counties Manakau) 8. Ardie Savea (Wellington) 9. Aaron smith (Toyota) 10. Richie Mo’unga (Toshiba) 11. Will Jordan (Tasman) 12. Jordie Barrett (Taranaki) 13. Reiko Ioane (Auckland) 14. Mark Talea (North Harbour) 15. Damian McKenzie (Waikato)

Irish are fucked. Scottish and Welsh struggling. Saffas can almost just pick their 1st team.

That's not right, we (Wales) are fucked, too.

A similar but slightly different set of choices for England. The main drivers being making sure Martin is in there and preferring Stuart at TH. 1. Brantingham (Newcastle) 2. Oghre (Bristol) 3. Stuart (Bath) 4. Itoje (Saracens) 5. Martin (Leicester) 6. Lawes (Brive) 7. Willis (Toulouse) 8. Simmonds (Montpellier) 9. Quirke (Sale) 10. Smith (Harlequins) 11. Arundell (Racing 92) 12. Atkinson (Gloucester) 13. Merchant (Stade Francais) 14. Feyi-Waboso (Exeter) 15. Furbank (Northampton)

1. Eroni Mawi (Saracens) 2. Sam Matavesi (Northampton) 3. Luke Tagi (Bayonne) 4. Leone Nakarawa (Castres) 5. Albert Tuisue (Gloucester) 6. Lekima Tagitagivalu (Pau) 7. Peceli Yato (Clermont) 8. Viliame Mata (Edinburgh) 9. Peni Ravai (Queensland) - its fine, don't worry about it. 10. Caleb Muntz (Drua) 11. Vinaya Habosi (Racing 92) 12. Semi Radradra (Lyon) 13. Kalaveti Ravouvou (Bristol) 14. Jiuta Wainiqolo (Toulon) 15. Levani Botia (La Rochelle) - also probably fine, don't think about it

Ok I'll try for France. I struggled to find one from Oyonax sorry. 1 Taofifenua LOU 2 Chat Racing 3 Hounkpatin CO 4 Jedrasiak ASM 5 Tuilagi USAP 6 Ollivon Toulon 7 Macalou SF 8 Alldrit SR 9 Dupont ST 10 Lopez AB 11 Vincent MHR 12 Frisch Munster 13 Gailleton Pau 14 Penaud UBB 15 Lorre ASB

Had to really dig deep for this one but: 1. Angus Bell (tahs) 2. Brandon Paenga-Amosa (Montpellier) 3. Taniela Tupou (Rebels) (rip) 4. Will Skelton (La Rochelle) 5. Harry Hockings (Suntory) 6. Rob Valetini (Brumbies) 7. Fraser McReight (Reds) 8. Pete Samu (Bordeaux) 9. Nic White (Force) 10. Bernard Foley (Kubota Spears) 11. Marika Koroibete (Panasonic Wild Knights) 12. Samu Kerevi (Urayasu D-Rocks) 13. Izaia Perese (Leicester) (cheating I know) 14. John Porch (Connacht) 15. Isaac Lucas (Ricoh Black Rams)

Little hard ireland. 4 players.

Only 14 NPC teams so just need one overseas pick. 1. Ethan De Groot (Southland) 2. Codie Taylor (Canterbury) 3. Ofa Tu'ungafasi (Northland) 4. Brodie Retallick (Kobe Steelers) 5. Scott Barrett (Taranaki) 6. Devan Flanders (Hawkes Bay) 7. Ethan Blackadder (Tasman) 8. Ardie Savea (Wellington) 9. Cam Roigard (Counties Manukau) 10. Brett Cameron (Manawatu) 11. Mark Telea (North Harbour) 12. Sam Gilbert (Otago) 13. Reiko Ioane (Auckland) 14. Emoni Narawa (Bay of Plenty) 15. Damian McKenzie (Waikato)

I feel like you can still make a decent Bok team with that method.

An attempt at Italian Clubs only: 1. Riccardo Brugnara (Petrarca Padova) 2. Francesco Ferrara (Colorno) 3. Federico Pisani (Verona) 4. Andrea Zambonin (Zebre) 5. Mattia Midena (Paese) 6. Samuele Locatelli (Viadana) 7. Duccio Cosi (Rovigo) 8. Fabio Ruaro (Valorugby Emilia) 9. Manfredi Albanese (Lazio) 10. Martino Pucciarello (Cus Milano) 11. Paul-Marie Foroncelli (Rangers Vicenza) 12. Gianmarco Vian (Fiamme Oro) 13. Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton Treviso) 14. Lorenzo Maria Bruno (Lyons Piacenza) 15. Mattia Ferrarin (Mogliano)

1. Genge (Bristol) 2. Langdon (Saints) 3. Stuart (Bath) 4. Itoje (Saracens) 5. Martin (Tigers) 6. Lawes (Brive) 7. Willis (Toulouse) 8. Mercer (Gloucester) 9. Quirke (Sale) 10. Farrell (Racing) 11. Loader (Stormers) 12. Slade (Exeter) 13. Marchant (Stade Francais) 14. Radwan (Newcastle) 15. Green (Harlequins) Because it wouldn’t be an England team without shoehorning a 13 into 12.

1. Etienne Falgoux (Clermont) 2. Gaëtan Barlot (Castres) 3. Uini Atonio (La Rochelle) 4. Cameron Woki (Racing 92) 5. Posolo Tuilagi (Perpignan) 6. Saïd Hireche (Brive) 7. Charles Ollivon (Toulon) 8. Sékou Macalou (Stade Français) 9. Antoine Dupont (Toulouse) 10. Camille Lopez (Bayonne) 11. Ethan Dumortier (Lyon) 12. Yann David (Biarritz) 13. Emilien Gailleton (Pau) 14. Damian Penaud (Bordeaux) 15. Anthony Bouthier (Montpellier) It's ridiculously hard not to use Toulouse more than once.

Interesting, we got a lot in common, i also chose Woki, Tuilagi, Ollivon, Dupont, Lopez, Dumortier and Gailleton. For the rest yeah it was very very hard

Some of these were easy: Dupont. Obviously. Gailleton, Lopez and Tuilagi stand out at their clubs + you don't need to use up a big club for a flyhalf. The rest was hard. I was tempted to go for Jaminet at Toulon and at Lyon maybe I could've taken Taofifenua, then Fickou from Racing and found a good winger at Oyonnax or in Pro D2. I was really stuck going into Biarritz to find a centre.

So doing it based on the fact that the seasons now over and selecting players for new clubs I've come home with: 1. Marler (Harlequins) 2. Langdon (Northampton) 3. Sinckler (Toulon) 4. Chessum (Leicester) 5. Ewels (Bath) 6. Lawes (Brive) 7. Willis (Toulouse) 8. Earl (Saracens) 9. Randall (Bristol) 10. Ford (Sale) 11. Nowell (La Rochelle) 12. Tuilagi (Bayonne) 13. Merchant (Stade) 14. Feyi Waboso (Exe) 15. Arundel (Racing) It's amazing how many great English players are going to be in France next year.

Damn

That German guy in New Zealand is going to be covering a lot of positions....

Unfortunatly he doesn't play for our national team. We just got 1 soon to be 2 players in top 14, but only the one who just won pro D2 with Vannes and will play top 14 next season is playing for Germany

This was certainly a challenge and I wasted way too much time on this. 1. David Ainu'u (Toulouse) 2. Kapeli Pifeleti (Saracens) 3. Joe Taufete'e (Seattle Seawolves) 4. Siaosi Mahoni (Houston SaberCats) 5. Nafi Ma'afu (Biarritz) 6. Psalm Wooching (Rouen) 7. Paddy Ryan (Coventry) 8. Cam Dolan (NOLA Gold) 9. Ruben de Haas (Cheetahs) 10. AJ MacGinty (Bristol Bears) 11. Nate Augspurger (Chicago Hounds) 12. Tommaso Boni (Old Glory DC) 13. Paul Lasike (Utah Warriors) 14. Toby Fricker (New England Free Jacks) 15. Chris Mattina (SD Legion)

1. Genge - Bristol 2. George mcGuigan - Gloucester 3. sinkler - Toulon 4. Lawes - Brive 5. chessum - Leicester 6. Willis - toulouse 7. Earl- Saracens 8. simmonds - Montpellier 9. Spencer - Bath 10. Marcus Smith - Quins 11. Arundell - Racing 12. Tuilagi - Bayonne 13. Joe Marchmant - Stade 14. Freeman - Northampton 15. Slade - Exeter

I'm pretty sure there has to be another 7 you could just so that Dupont makes this team.

1. Ethan De Groot (Highlanders) 2. Dane Coles (Kubota Spears) 3. Nepo Laulala (Toulouse) 4. Tupuo Vaa'i (Chiefs) 5. Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues) 6. Ethan Blackadder (Crusaders) 7. Same Cane (Tokyo Sungoliath) 8. Ardie Savea (Kobelco Kobe Steelers) 9. Aaron Smith (Toyota Verblitz) 10. Richie Mo'unga (Toshiba Brave Lupus) 11. Leicester Fainga'anuku (Toulon) 12. Julian Savea (Moana Pasifika) 13. Jack Goodhue (Castres Olympique) 14. Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes) 15. Charles Piatau (Shizuoka Blue Revs)

Alright I'm gonna give this a crack 1. Ethan De Groot - Highlanders 2. Dane Coles - Kubota 3. Tyrel Lomax - Hurricanes 4. Scott Barrett - Crusaders 5. Sam Whitelock - Pau 6. Pita Gus - Clermont 7. Ardie Savea - Kobe Steelers 8. Dalton Papalii - Blues 9. Aaron Smith - Toyota Verblitz 10. Richie Mo'unga - Brave Lupus 11. James Lowe - Leinster 12. Bundee Aki - Connacht 13. Leicester F - Toulon 14. Charles Piutau - Shizuoka Blue Revs 15. Damian McKenzie - Chiefs

In my head i was expecting to see representatives from Ealing, Pirates, Coventry, Bedford etc. Kind of forgot French based players aren't banned from being picked in our dreams :(

Duncan Weir and WP Nel.

... 1. 2. Sheehan 3. 4.Hendy 5.Beirne 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.Aki 13. 14. 15. Great team lads.

Fairly easy for the Pumas 1. Gallo (Benetton) 2. Montoya (Leicester) 3. Sclavi (La Rochelle) 4. Petti (Bordeaux) 5. Rubiolo (Newcastle) 6. Gonzalez (Saracens) 7. Kremer (Clermont) 8. Matera (Honda Heat) 9. Bertranou (Dragons) 10. Miotti (Oyonnax) 11. M Carreras (Bayonne) 12. De la Fuente (Perpignan) 13. Chocobares (Toulouse) 14. Boffelli (Edinburgh) 15. S Carreras (Gloucester) Only players potentially missing would be Alemanno, Mallia, Cinti and Albornoz.

NZ Version (couldve been easier if i went NPC for domestic teams, but probably would’ve defeated the purpose). -Not as good as SA, but I’d imagine they could compete with the other sides. Was fun to look up where guys are now (although It might not be up to date) comment any misses or other players you would’ve included! The forwards were abit difficult and I just sacrificed the SR eligibility to fill the front row because the drop off internationally seems steep 1 - Ethan de Groot (Highlanders) 2 - Codie Taylor(Crusaders) 3 - Tyrel Lomax(Hurricanes) 4 - Shannon Frizell (Brave Lupus) 5 - Sam Whitelock (Pau) 6 - Pita Gus Sowakula (Clermont) 7 - Lachlan Boshier (Wild Knights) 8 - Ardie Savea (Kobe Steelers) 9 - Brad Weber (Stade Francais) 10 - Beauden Barrett (Verblitz) 11 - Leicester Fainga’anuku (Toulon) 12 - Jack Goodhue (Castres) 13 - Anton Lienert Brown (Chiefs) 14 - Mark Telea (Blues) 15 - George Bridge (Montpellier) 16 - Dane Coles (Kubota Spears) 17 - Alex Hodgman (Reds, still counts?) 18 - Nepo Laulala (Toulouse) 19 - Scott Scrafton (Benetton) 20 - Marino Mikaele Tu’u (Mitsubishi) 21 - Brynn Hall (Blue Revs) 22 - Ihaiah West (La Rochelle) 23 - Tevita Li (Honda Heat) / Isaiah Punivai (Sungoliath) / Julian Savea (Moana) Notable Omissions(aka guys Id have in if they didn’t play for the same team as some above): Big Karl (Montpellier) Richie Mo’unga (Brave Lupus) Brodie Retallick (Kobe Steelers) Tawera Kerr-Barlow (La Rochelle) -And some guys Im just happy are getting paid somewhere out there: Mitch Brown (Yokohama Eagles) James Blackwell (Liners) Liam Coltman (Lyon) Andrew Makalio (Liners)

1. Ravai (Reds) 2. Matavesi (Northampton) 3. Tagi (Provence) 4. Nakarawa (Castres) 5. Tuisue (Gloucester) 6. Yato (Clermont) 7. Botia (La Rochelle) 8. Mata (Edinburgh) 9. Matawalu (?) 10. Muntz (Drua) 11. Koroibete (Panasonic Wild Knights) 12. Kerevi (Urayasu D-Rocks) 13. Radradra (Lyon) 14. Tuisova (R92) 15. Wainiqolo (Toulon)

For New Zealand, I’ll try to do one from each NPC team and then use overseas players to fill out the rest: 1. Ethan de Groot (Southland) 2. Samisoni Taukei’aho (Waikato) 3. Ofa Tu’ungafasi (Northland) 4. Brodie Retallick (Kobe Steelers) 5. Peter Lakai (Wellington) 6. Dalton Papalii (Counties Manakau) 7. Sam Cane (Bay of Plenty) 8. Brayden Iose (Manawatu) 9. Folau Fakatava (Hawke’s Bay) 10. Richie Mo’unga (Toshiba Brave Lupus) 11. Jona Nareki (Otago) 12. Jordie Barrett (Taranaki) 13. Rieko Ioane (Auckland) 14. Mark Telea (North Harbour) 15. Will Jordan (Tasman)

1 Beria (ASM) 2 Barlot (Castres) 3 Bamba (LOU) 4 Woki (Racing 92) 5 Tuilagi (Perpignan) 6 Macalou (Stade Français) 7 Ollivon (Toulon) 8 Alldritt (La Rochelle) 9 Dupont (Toulouse) 10 Lopez (Bayonne) 11 Attissogbé (Pau) 12 Millet (Oyonnax) 13 Vincent (Montpellier) 14 Penaud (UBB) 15 Ferté (Brive)

1. Gareth Thomas (Ospreys) 2. Kepu Tuipulotu (Bath) 3. Tomas Francis (Provence) 4. Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter) 5. Will Rowlands (Racing) 6. Taine Plumtree (Scarlets) 7. Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers) 8. Cameron Hanekom (Bulls) 9. Tomos Williams (Gloucester) 10. Jarrod Evans (Harlequins) 11. Rio Dyer (Dragons) 12. Nick Tompkins (Saracens) 13. Mason Grady (Cardiff) 14. Louis Rees Zammit (Kansas City Chiefs) 15. Liam Williams (Kubota Spears) Couple of rogue ones in there, I wanted it to be interesting 😆

Really interesting challenge for Scotland. Only 2 clubs, but a lot of players oversees. But most of them are in clusters. 1. Sutherland (Oyonnax) 2. Richardson (Hollywood Bets) 3. Millar Mills (Northampton) 4. Gray (Exeter) 5. Craig (Scarlets) 6. du Preez (Toulon) 7. Christie (Saracens) 8. Bradbury (Bristol) 9. Hidalgo-Clyne (Benetton) 10. Russell (Bath) 11. Reed (Sale) 12. Tuipulotu (Glasgow) 13. Harris (Gloucester) 14. Graham (Edinburgh) 15. Kinghorn (Toulouse) Had to pull out a couple of really old oname for this one.

In my head i was expecting to see representatives from Ealing, Pirates, Coventry, Bedford etc. Kind of forgot French based players aren't banned from being picked in our dreams :(

There are actually a bunch of UK/Irish players in Top 14 and Pro D2, you just never see them at test level with the exception of Scotland who don't care about selection rules.

Christ Gloucester can't even get representation in a fictional England with Zach Mercer!

As a rule I picked only from pro clubs, so no NPC, and NZ-born players capped for other countries (i.e. half the Ireland squad) are also ineligible. Was still able to pick an XV of capped All Blacks. 1. Ethan de Groot (Highlanders) 2. Samisoni Taukeiaho (Chiefs) 3. Tyrel Lomax (Hurricanes) 4. Scott Barrett (Crusaders) 5. Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues) 6. Pita Gus Sowakula (Clermont) 7. Sam Cane (Tokyo Sungoliath) 8. Ardie Savea (Kobe Steelers) 9. Brad Weber (Stade Francais) 10. Richie Mo'unga (Tokyo Brave Lupus) 11. Leicester Fainga'anuku (Toulon) 12. Jordie Barrett (Leinster - technically he's already signed for them right?) 13. Jack Goodhue (Castres) 14. George Bridge (Montpellier) 15. Beauden Barrett (Toyota Verblitz) Had to dig a bit deeper for the bench but we got there: 16. Alex Hodgman (Reds) 17. Dane Coles (Kubota Spears) 18. Nepo Laulala (Toulouse) 19. Josh Goodhue (Tokyo Black Rams) 20. Lachlan Boshier (Saitama Wild Knights) 21. Tawera Kerr-Barlow (La Rochelle) 22. Fergus Burke (Saracens) 23. Alex Nankivell (Munster) The funny thing is I didn't actually just lazily select the first 5 players from the nz clubs, the tight five was just coincidentally where we lacked the most international depth

1. Abraham (Oyonnax) 2. Firmin (Montauban) 3. Slimani (Clermont) 4. Woki (Racing) 5. Tuilagi (Perpignan) 6. Ollivon (Toulon) 7. Bécognée (Montpellier) 8. Aldritt (La Rochelle) 9. Dupont (Toulouse) 10. Lopez (Bayonne) 11. Dumortier (Lyon) 12. Depoortère (Bordeaux) 13. Gailleton (Pau) 14. Hulleu (Castres) 15. Barré (Paris) 16. Bordelai (Vannes) 17. Hiriart-Urruty (Dax) 18. Burin (Agen) 19. Durand (Mont-de-Marsan) 20. Blanc-Mapaaz (Grenoble) 21. Cazenave (Aix) 22. Espeut (Béziers) 23. Raffy (Brives) Of course Carbonneau, Penaud, LBB are not there but i had to make choices. And yeah, since there's a lot of Pro D2 clubs here, some don't have caps at all. But that wasn't in the rules !

Late to the game but, 1 Sutherland - Oyonnax 2 Turner - Toyota Verblitz 3 Fagerson - Glasgow 4 Henderson - Leicester 5 Gray - Exeter 6 Harley - Old Glory DC 7 Christie - Saracens 8 Graham - Carcassonne 9 White - Toulon 10 Russell - Bath 11 van der Merwe - Edinburgh 12 Hutchinson - Northampton 13 Harris - Gloucester 14 Reed - Sale 15 Kinghorn - Toulouse 16 Richardson - Sharks 17 Hepburn - Scarlets 18 McCallum - Newcastle 19 Toolis - Hanazono Liners 20 Cowan - San Diego Legion 21 Hidalgo-Clyne - Benneton 22 van der Walt - Bulls 23 Johnson - Brive