Dream Team: Former Newport, Exeter and Wales U21 flanker Chris Brown
1 Rod Snow
Extremely powerful unit, aggressive and super fit – a professional before professionalism. Frequently used me as a doormat in training and competition. Good man, fantastic in the dressing room.
2 Nigel Meek
Committed, fierce and uncompromising – never stepped back. Great captain for me as a young player. He took time for others but expected everything on the field. The best entertainer and voice off the field – the human jukebox could play it or sing it.
3 Julian White
Quiet workhorse who took pleasure in dismantling scrums. Whenever you played against him, more often than not your own scrum came towards you!
4 Warwick Waugh
Super physical Aussie who played for Bath and Connacht and hit like a mule. Lurked in the shadows waiting to put a hole in your femur, but luckily not too difficult to spot!
5 Kevin Moseley
Huge man and massive physical presence at set piece. In an age where size and brutality were essential, ‘Boris’ never failed to deliver. Unfortunately, at that size, he just got caught too often. Off the field, voice of an angel. I was always shocked when the melody began in comparison to his hulking frame.
6 Richard Baxter
Exeter favourite Richie had a broad skill-set, great at lineout, aggressive in defence and never failed at the gain-line – not getting a Test cap is still a mystery to me. Great man off the field, one of the old school who made it to the new school.
7 Gwyn Jones
Quick, strong, great engine and a smart determined adversary who played for Cardiff and Wales – world-class from being a schoolboy to the end of his career. I competed against him as a youngster and he was just too good at all of it.
8 Scott Quinnell
Mostly unplayable. Strong, could run two feet from the floor and take gain-lines at will. When playing with him his back row hung around like a seagull round a trawler, hoping for scraps. Against him, I never worked it out.
9 Chris Bridges
The first No.9 to scoot before it became fashionable. Ran a game like a New York traffic warden. Hugely competitive but a gent off the field who was a giggle.
10 Neil Jenkins
3-6-9-12…the scoreboard ticked on and on. Those who didn’t play against him thought he was a kicker only, but his passing game at the gain-line made him very difficult to defend and his skill-set was world-class.
11 Nigel Walker
Any space at all and you’d want to start clapping as an opponent. Fast does not do it justice. The attributes he had were the first sign of the way the game was going.
12 Roger Bidgood
Strong as a bull and physical, Roger always brought directness for Newport and Wales and surety which you knew would be there every week. Similarly, he brought this on a Saturday night!
13 Leigh Davies
Just a good player. Always found space and the ball would glide as if he had all the time in the world. Just when you thought you were competing, he would crack the game wide open.
14 Steve Hanley
Huge, quick, powerful, and uncompromising. When we encountered Sale he was an impressive animal.
15 Mike Rayer
Rugby sense and ball play on a different level. These days we talk about staying in the moment and making right decisions but Mike was doing that in 1992 as a brand leader. Great person to be around post-match too – always had time for you.
