Dream Team: Jamie Noon – former Newcastle, Brive and England centre
2. Keven Mealamu – You don’t get 100+ caps for NZ without being good. Always impressed by how dynamic he is. Also very good in the scrum and the lineout.
3. Carl Hayman – A gentle giant but a fantastic competitor on the pitch. Loved his surfing too – a tighthead surfing in the North East was some sight!
4. Martin Johnson – A big leader who commands respect for what he achieved. Had an excellent skill set and the ability to know what was expected of him and carry it out perfectly.
5. Bakkies Botha – Now that I’m an agent I get a lot of clubs saying ‘we’re looking for a Bakkies Botha’. It shows how valuable he is. Huge, very strong and just a force of nature.
6. George Smith – A very impressive all-rounder. I played against him when he was with Toulon once, they got a red card and so Smith had to go into the centres and he looked like he had played there for years.
7. Richie McCaw – A pure leader and the No.7 of his time – his tussles with Smith were fantastic. Some call it cheating but if he gets away with it I call it desire, intelligence and ambition.
8. Chris Masoe – Another from the Kiwi stable and another I’d call a force of nature. He’s phenomenal and still going strong at Toulon, his work-rate is among the best I’ve seen.
9. George Gregan – Everything you want from a No.9 who defined that era of Australian rugby. The inside pass he made famous is now referred to in Australia as the Gregan Pass.
10. Jonny Wilkinson – He’s helped me so much during my career and I think a lot of players would say the same. He set the bar and redefined what every other fly-half had to aspire to.
11. Bryan Habana – A huge threat with ball in hand and a look at the stats shows how important he’s been for SA – 53 tries in 95 Tests.
12. Inga Tuigamala – Such a powerful runner and so quick for a big man. If he didn’t make the break then he got over the gain line. Reminds me of Sonny Bill Williams with how good he was at offloading.
13. Brian O’Driscoll – One of the nice guys of rugby and on the pitch, incredible both in attack and defence. He never takes a backwards step, is very good over the ball and then going forward he has great ball skills.
14. Jason Robinson – Someone who reached the very top in both codes and it was his consistency that impressed me most. Hardly ever had a bad game and another who was an incredible threat with ball in hand.
15. Matt Burke – There was no better feeling than knowing he was behind you. He brought such experience to Newcastle; he was solid in the tackle, very strong and brave – just a class act.
