The Best, The GOATs and Stephen Jones?

In December, well known Kiwi-baiter, Stephen Jones penned his all-time World XV. It is as follows:

STEPHEN JONES’ BEST XV: 15: Chris Latham (Australia), 14 Gerald Davies (Wales), 13 Jeremy Guscott (England), 12 Frank Bunce (New Zealand), 11 David Campese (Australia), 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Gareth Edwards, 8 Sergio Parisse (Italy), 7 Sam Warburton (Wales), 6 Dan Lydiate (Wales), 5 Patricio Albacete (Argentina), 4 Simon Shaw (England), 3 Olo Brown (New Zealand), 2 Mario Ledesma (Argentina), 1 Garry Pagel (South Africa).

It did make me wonder at the time, if in fact Jones had actually seen any rugby. Ever. Let us explore the choices.

Chris Latham? Really? I can think of Matt Burke, Adam Ashley-Cooper and even Campo were better fullbacks not to mention the rest of the rugby playing world like Percy Montgomery, Christian Cullen, Leigh Halfpenny, JPR Williams, Serge Blanco or Rob Kearney.

Gerald Davies – not going to argue there.

Jeremy Guscott? Jesus. Bruce Robertson, Conrad Smith, Danie Gerber, Will Carling, Brian O’Driscoll and so on. Guscott while a very effective player isn’t quite in the same class.

Frank Bunce. Very good but the best 12 of all time?

David Campese. Great in patches, bloody awful in others. Best left winger of all time? I think the likes of David Duckham, Cory Jane, Reiko Ioane, Ray Mort, Patrice Lagisquet would find fault with that.

Juan Martin Hernandez. No.

Gareth Edwards – Magician.

Sergio Parisse. No.

Sam Warburton the best 7 ever. Not even close. Neil Back, Peter Winterbottom, Schalk Burger, David Pocock, Michael Jones, Josh Kronfeld, and of course McCaw were better opensides.

Dan Lydiate. Give me strength.

Patricio Albacete. No.

Simon Shaw. Other than the distinction of being sent off more than Dylan Hartley (actually I’m not sure that’s entirely correct), what has he done? England alone has many better locks that have served the Rose with more distinction than Shaw.

Olo Brown. Probably not the best tight head ever. Effective, strong and tough but not the best.

Mario Ledesma. No.

Garry Pagel. 5 Tests for the Springboks. 5. Any of the English, Irish, Welsh, Kiwi or Springbok props could lay claim to this if Garry is the benchmark.

These lists are fun and cause outrage. Especially down in little old New Zealand where the All Blacks can do no wrong. This is Mr Jones’ opinion and he is certainly entitled to it. But I do wonder if he has actually watched any rugby let alone understands it. There are many people far better qualified to comment on these selections than I but I think to choose an all-time team would actually be an exercise in anti-profundity. No group of people could ever agree on selections for such a team and while Mr Jones has made his, can we assume his selections are akin to putting the Backstreet Boys on the list of greatest all-time bands?