42 thoughts on “Who were the best players of 2014?”

1. Team of 2014 for me:
   1. Ayerza 2. Hartley 3.Wilson 4. Retallick 5. O’Connell 6. O’Mahoney 7.Robshaw 8.Vermuelen 9.Murray 10.Sexton 11.Savea 12.De Villiers 13.Kuridrani 14.North 15.Folau

   1. Not much to disagree with there!

2. Davey Wilson! Brilliant choice!

3. Attwood for Lawes.He came of age internationally in the autumn.Lawes was a bit quiet in a couple of the games.Attwood was a beast.

4. Hartley! HAHAHAHAHAHA. Good one. Get rid of him, Jannie du P, and add Robshaw at 7 in front of Steffon and that’d be a decent summation.

   1. Robshaw instead of Steffon Armitage? HAHAHAHAHAHA.

      1. Tier 1 Test performances outrank domestic, so yeah Robshaw should be in for Armitage, although McCaw should be number 1.

5. Yeah, I might have gone for Creevy at hooker. Feel like the captaincy turned him into a whole different player.

6. Launchbury is a player I would have over anyone else in the world. I think he’s really underrated, and his return to England can’t come soon enough.

   1. Completely agree with that! Almost put him in my team but I couldn’t justify it since he didn’t play this Autumn.

      1. But this is for the wholeof 2014? I think the above is too weighted to the AIs.

         1. Personally I think O’Connell and Retallick edge Launchbury based on the whole year, but he’d be third on my list even without the AIs.

            Also could have sworn I’d posted what I though the best XV would be over the course of the year but it doesn’t seem to be here.

            I’d go: Ayerza, Hartley, Wilson, O’Connell, Retallick, O’Mahoney, Robshaw, Vermuelen, Murray, Sexton, Savea, De Villiers, Kuridrani, Bowe, Folau.

7. Manu Tuilagi got better with every game he didn’t play for England.

8. Love these for a bit of debate.

   Firstly, you’ve not one French player in the 45 picked. Wow.

   Just throwing a few alternatives out there.

   15. Brown out, Rob Kearney in. RK was a match for both Le Roux & Folau during AIs – Brown tailed off.

   14/11: Teddy Thomas, Trimble

   12. You forgot about Sam Burgess.

   Also Fofana wasn’t at his best but he’s still worth a shout unless you’ve a blanket ban on the French

   9. Pienaar is still worth a top 3 spot even though he’s missed the last 3 months.. yes I’m biased #SUFTUM

   8. No Parisse, Vito, Heaslip, Morgan, Faletau..I could go on.. some aren’t even convinced Stander is the best no8 at Munster.

   7. Same three, reverse the order.

   6. Without picking on Munster too much, I don’t think O’Mahony is the worlds best YET. Not many better than Dusautoir still.

   Can’t argue with those locks, set in stone. Next year, Jonny Gray.

   2. Agree with the comment above.. Creevy in for Hartley #Hartleyout

9. Interesting looking at the world class performers as you’ve listed them. Some debate over a few positions, but paints a picture. 13 from NZ and 11 from SA is fair. 6 from Eng and Aus but only 4 from Ire and 2 from Wales. Hmmm does that really reflect the relative strengths of the squads.

   I appreciate that this isn’t about squads though, but Brown over 1/2p or Kearney after this Autumn? Would that be the relative ratios if you were picking a Lions 15 today, or is it just that we have several players who have excelled this year whereas the Irish and Welsh have had key injuries and newcomers coming through, and possibly strength in areas where the SH are just that much stronger. Probably answered my own question as I’ve been typing!

   1. Is there such a thing as a rhetorical post?

   2. 6 from Eng? Are you including Armitage? Funny I thought he was French? Lol

   3. I think your last point is probably the key there, especially in the forwards. England are traditionally strong in the forwards and especially the front row, the front row is where I think most people would agree that the SH nations (except Argentina) are weakest, as a result England have 3 out of their 6 in those positions and 5/6 in the forwards as a whole.

      When you look at say Ireland there front row isn’t the greatest, but they’ve got one world class 2nd row who is in there and then some very good back row players, but this is probably where the SH are strongest with the likes of Vermuelen, Read, Hooper and McCaw. Hence why only O’Mahony makes it in.

10. I think hartley is difficult to like, especially if he’s not on your team! But I think just in terms of his rugby it is justified. Not as great in the loose as others but you’d struggle to find a hooker as good at scrum/llineout, which is first priority in my opinion

11. Jacob
    Just looking thru a couple of things in retro here, but x 3 from England ranked 4 & 2 form NZ ranked… get the pic? The old perception v reality again. Ah well, gotta take these things with a pinch I guess.

    1. Interesting that you pick out England, Jacob has picked 4 Irish players who are ranked 3rd and the Aussies are ranked 5th and have 2 (like NZ), but you haven’t commented about them.

    2. Fair point – NZ are undoubtedly the best team in the world, but what other individuals would you put in? None of the NZ front row, and I’d got O’Connell over Whitelock this year. Again in the back row, whilst NZ players have been brilliant, I’m struggling to see how individually any of the NZ players bettered the ones I’ve listed.

       In the backs you could have more argument possibly, but again when I go through individuals from NZ that I’d pick over those I’ve selected. NZ have the benefit of having all XV players at a very high level.

12. kit
    This whole thing is subjective, but I was aiming the comment @ Jacob. Had some prev contact. As stated, it’s an English issue to base views on perception rather than reality; e.g. England’s ‘going in the right direction’ (whatever that means) under SL when they’ve lost 6 v the SH & the latter’s record, compared with Johnson’s & Ashton’s (who were both deemed relative failures) is hardly any diff now to the former two’s records! Also yr contention ‘England are traditionally strong in the forwards and especially the front row, the front row is where I think most people would agree that the SH nations (except Argentina) are weakest…’. I agree England have trad had decent, or adequate packs, but to say the SH are weakest surely proves my pt. NZ dominated terr & poss esp in the 2nd 1/2 @ Twick, in the rain, with a NH ref (?) & ran in 3 tries. In the OZ test they had 100% scrum success on their put in to England’s 90%. If England are as good as you imply, then the reality of stats I quote, surely wouldn’t exist. Regds the Irish players, personally I can’t see O’Mahoney, e.g., being better than Kaino (why did the selectors bring the latter back?). IO’Connell? Maybe, but when it mattered on the Lions tour of NZ, he fell over like the rest, so I’ve some reservations about players who don’t perform when it really matters (altho I concede that the AI’s are the subject here) & is he any better than the Saffa, Kiwi locks whom, e.g., the ST seemed to esp rate over the past yr or 2. Sexton is a competent fly1/2, but kicks too much as 1st option for me. Also, altho you didn’t ask, but how could Vermuelen get in over Read? The latter is a more diverse & rounded player, so it’s a cred thing with Jac. Basically this topic is a bit of a fantasy & I couldn’t be arsed commenting further @ the time, but some perceive quite diff from others I guess.

13. Kit
    Replied but didn’t appear. Was aiming @ Jac’s contention of his perception in picking English players in posi’s like e.g. 7 with Robshaw over McCaw esp when England lost 6 in a row v the SH. If his & yr views are true as you imply, surely this would not have happened. Regds the Irish, as you ask, there aren’t so many extoling the virtues of their players, but again, O’Connell & . O’Mahoney over the SH locks (AB or Saffa)? Maybe but the AB locks are W Champs & Kaino doesn’t take to many backward steps. Why did the selectors bring him right back in? For me you over rate yr team esp up front as the ABs showed in the rain, away from home with a NH ref? & scored x 3 in the 2nd 1/2. diff sense of reality. I pref to back up with some factual basis @ least, but each to hid own.

    1. Robshaw outplayed McCaw in the summer test series, and whilst McCaw definitely got the upper hand over him this Autumn, over the course of the year Robshaw has been unbelievably good. I’d go Hooper before McCaw if we are talking about individual play this year.

       It’s all well and good pointing out NZ are world champs, no one has said they aren’t by far and away the best side in the world. But as I’ve said above, I struggle to see how many AB’s were better individually in 2014 than those I’ve selected.

       1. Jacob – I don’t think Don understands the premise of choosing an individual of the year for each position.

          Don. Yes – the ABs are a superb TEAM but it doesn’t mean that they are the best in each position. Surely not even you would argue for example that Dane Coles is better than Creevy, Hartley, Du Plessis or Strauss. In fact, I’d have Hibbard in front of him as well

          Likewise, Whitelock is a great lock and yes he is a world champ but I’d still take O’Connell, Etzebeth, Matfield and Lawes in front of him

          In fact the only choices of Jacob’s where I believe an AB has a good shout over the person he has picked would be Kaino at blindside and Aaron Smith over Conor Murray. Otherwise, I would say each and every player he has chosen has had a better year than their AB equivalent.

          1. I very nearly went for Smith but I just thought Murray this Autumn was another level. Kaino I can see credit for as well, but I’m a massive fan of O’Mahoney. Whenever he plays against England he always manages to make me very angry at him – sign of a pretty disruptive back row!

             1. Jacob, if you’re anything like me, what irritates you isn’t so much his disruption at the breakdown as his constant whinging at the ref!

    2. Don P, I never stated nor implied that I thought the England players were better. I was implying that if NZ higher ranking is your argument for the NZ players in those positions as better then you should make the same argument against the picking of Irish and Australian players and not just the English players, it’s comments like these from you that give the perception that you just have a completely negative view of the English rugby team.

       As for AB 2nd Rows being W champs, that was in 2011 and so has no bearing on who was the better player this year, on top of that Brodie Retallick wasn’t in the world cup squad and so is not in fact a W Champ. However he has been immense this year and so is in Jacob’s team, O’Connell however has been better than Whitelock and so he deserves to be in there. Kaino I agree on and I would have him in there.

       You keep talking about how great NZ are as a team and I think everyone agrees that they’re are comfortably the best but that is a sign of how well they work together as a TEAM. That doesn’t mean that each player has been the best in they’re position this year. For example Kieran Read is a fantastic player and you can make an excellent case for him being the best no.8 in the world, this year however Duane Vermeulen has been the best in that position, hence why he was up for player of the year. This isn’t to say that he is a better player than Read, just to say that he has put in the better performances this year.

       1. *their position this year

          What a rookie error

14. A shout to Juan Smith and Jonny Wilkinson for me – both would all have walked back into their national teams last year – if it wasn’t for their circumstances.

    Alex Corbisiero for an absence most keenly felt.

    1. Sam – Juan Smith actually did walk back into his national team for a brief stint, but wasn’t overly impressive, if memory serves. Still a class act though, and he was very close to making the list!

15. Locks are extremely competitive but I’d have to go for AWJ in as one of the 2nd bests. He’s been monstrous in a Welsh side that hasn’t had the best of years (and as most on here agree, how your side has done and how each player has done are 2 different things).

    Halfpenny in the autumn and in his last game for Toulon was great but it’s not enough to spread over a whole year. Mike Brown is a dubious call for me as I haven’t seen much of the class he displayed in the 6 nations since then. It would be Kearney over him for me.

    I’d like to see Armitage play in internationals to see how good he really is – until then I’d have it as Hooper/McCaw/Armitage.

16. Jacob
    Perception? Define outplayed. More carries, br. downs won, yds, offloads made? What criteria do you use? I find this interesting, as when contentions are actually drilled down, in reality, they often don’t stand up. It’s partly, at least, an academic exercise I know, but I do find that these opinions about who ‘out played’ whom hard to convince when the ‘out player’ so to speak, comes from the losing side…esp when they lose 3 on the bounce! Must have been marginal then? Also, I’ve never said ‘ the ABs are ‘by far and away the best side in the world’ (& I know that you’ve not stated that I have), altho you (others?) may do so. However, when you ‘struggle to see how many AB’s were better individually in 2014 than those I’ve selected’, surely means that you (not to mention this article, although I realise that selling space is part of the job here) mainly miss the pt. It’s a ‘star’ team as someone once said, that’s important, not a team of ‘stars’ or individuals. Too much is made of the latter rather than the former… as results have surely shown. Well, that’s my PERCEPTION anyway.
    Pablito Much of the above applies to you also. E.g. If ‘Whitelock is a great lock and yes he is a world champ’, & ‘I’d still take O’Connell, Etzebeth, Matfield and Lawes in front of him’, they must all be world beaters then. However I still recall O’Connell in NZ when the Lions, whose team looked good on paper, were whitewashed by the ABs & yr man, O’Connell, was anon. And he couldn’t quite inspire the Irish to avoid defeat @ the death last yr. Don’t think O’Mahony played? If only? And didn’t Lawes, ‘The enforcer’, go off with an ‘egg’ on his head? And btw Dane Coles was plenty effective when mattered in the same aforementioned AB V Ireland game. That’s not to say that he’s better than say that other Kiwi Hartley, but he @ least he doesn’t get yellowed evey other 5 mins methinks. like I said prev, maybe it’s you & Jac who don’t really understand the bottom line in rugger?

    1. I think you’ve just proved how much you misunderstand the whole point of this exercise when you’ve stated: “I do find that these opinions about who ‘out played’ whom hard to convince when the ‘out player’ so to speak, comes from the losing side”

       So when a team loses this means that all XV players from the winning side directly outplayed their opposition number?

       I really hope you don’t find a way to write an cryptic essay about how that is true.

17. Don. Let me explain slowly and in simple words for you.

    Its…a…debate…over…the…best…players…of…the…year.

    Therefore it is not about

    A. the best team

    B. What happened in 2013, 2012, 2005 or any other year apart from 2014

    1. Nah Pablito, what you do is just pick the team that beat all of the others and then through simple logic they must have the best XV in the world for that year.

       For example, at the end of 2012 the ABs had beaten everyone else, then England beat them. Ergo in 2012 the best XV players in the world were the XV players who started for England on that day.

       In the last 20 years worth of World Cups the ABs have only had the best players in those world cups once – and that was with home advantage. In all of the other WCs none of those NZ players would have made a world XV because they didn’t win the WC. So no Nonu, McCaw, Carter, etc.

       This year the 2nd best XV in the world is obviously Wales, possibly even the best because we beat SA -> SA beat ABs and this was AFTER we lost to ABs so our win takes precedence over that loss. You see how much easier it is to work it out like this than to discuss the merits of individual players?

       Simple.

       1. Just can’t argue with that kind of logic Brighty

18. Jacob, Pablito and yes, you too brighty
    You can be as patronising as you like, but, yet again, let me restate that this is a blog site. We can freely (presumably in most of our eyes anyway) express our views. As is my right therefore, I choose to question the value of the concept of this article (whether you like it or not). You lot do not, as is your right. However, the common thread with you is that when I demur from your conformist (& supercilious) views, you become fundamentally personal & subjective. You could try looking outward instead of incestuously inward on occasion, or perhaps you you are just on the wrong site. If it’s conformity you want, then could always join a bunch of lemmings when they next decide to run over a cliff. And BTW bright eyes, you’re becoming a bit of a bore using the same old trick by re-framing what I state… for the umpteenth time! But then you’ve only been holding a grudge since, oh, 2012. How time flies. And you STILL can’t quite bring your self to address me directly. Poor form indeed old bean. A lack of MF? Surely not… but you’d never have made an All Black. Oh dear. Am I being sarcy now? Must be catching. And oops, I nearly forgot. M. Crimbo all.

19. brighty
    Another BTW. Armitage is out of the pic. He’s overseas. End of… or words to that effect. Now, who could have stated this prev? I’ll give you a hint. Do the words ‘ground hog, keyboard warrior’ etc mean anything to you? Ho, ho… hum. Ta, tah.

20. kit
    Likely a bit late now, but didnt get around to addressing yr last comments. When you state ‘England are traditionally strong in the forwards and especially the front row, the front row is where I think most people would agree that the SH nations (except Argentina) are weakest’, surely this DOES imply English superiority. It’s ok by me, but come on. Also; ‘Interesting that you pick out England…’. Well they’re mainly English comments here & ‘it’s comments like these from you that give the perception that you just have a completely negative view of the English rugby team’. Well, I don’t respect English rugby much due their ltd style, e.g. reverting to RI v Oz & lack of coaching will to play an all round, more skilled game which is surely essential if they hope to win the WC & which must be their aim. Bloggers, pundits, former players etc also talk themselves up too much for me; e.g the 2012 win v NZ (brighty’ll love this). 1 swallow making a summer? Surely the wheels have pretty much come off for England & SL v the SH after losing 6. No? Well, compare his record with his 2 predecessors… or JS of Ireland. The latter’s won trophies with Claremont, Leinster & the 6N 1st up! How positive is England in light of these last 2 comments? I get depressed watching them. Ok, so I could stop & be happy, I know.

21. kit
    Forgot. You are right about Retallick not being in the last WC. Of course it was Brad Thorn. However, BR was IRB player of the yr, so it’s splitting hairs a bit I think.

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