Dream Team: Tom Guest – London Irish and former Harlequins No.8

1. Joe Marler – To be so young and doing so well as a loosehead is fantastic. He’s getting better and better all the time.
2. Schalk Brits – His skills are amazing for a hooker and he’s also such a strong guy – the number of times you see him make a line break is incredible.
3. Carl Hayman – The guy is a bit of a legend as he keeps showing. He is incredibly strong and solid as a rock in the scrum.
4. Paul O’Connell – When Munster beat Quins in last season’s Heineken Cup he was immense and showed what a great player he is – not just with his own performances but as a leader who can inspire others around him.
5. Nick Kennedy – He’s going to be one of my coaches at London Irish next season so I have to get him in the team! In his year at Quins you could see that he is second to none when it comes to the lineout.
6. Chris Robshaw – From the first play of a game or the first minute of a fitness session Chris always looks knackered and yet he just keeps going – his work rate is just incredible. Still the same good bloke he always was.
7. Andre Vos – He came to Quins when I was quite young and was great to have around. A former South African captain so you know he was class.
8. Sebastian Chabal – There is a lot of competition for No.8 but I have to go with Chabal, I remember as a young lad he was intimidating – his appearance and those freakishly long arms were scary.
9. Danny Care – The Quins pack is not the sort to steamroller teams so it’s a bit hard for a 9 to look good – but Danny’s always been superb and is showing that now for club and country.
10. Andrew Mehrtens – It was the end of his career when he joined Quins but he was still a class act – deceptively quick and could boot the ball miles.
11. Jason Robinson – You never wanted to find yourself one on one because he would embarrass you. He only needed a metre and he was gone.
12. Matt Giteau – Such a skilful player, he can control a game so well with his running game, he can keep the pressure on with his boot and his distribution and passing is spot on as well.
13. Manu Tuilagi – An extremely dangerous player, the impact he can make is fantastic and take it from me, a straight arm from him can sit you down in no time at all.
14. George North – A freak of nature, it’s been interesting to see how he has gone in the Premiership this season. A great step for someone so big and with that speed he is always tough to defend against.
15. Mike Brown – I’ll put him in the team just to cheer him up! An incredibly consistent player who is finally showing England what he can do when he is played in his right position, he raises his standards every season.
*This article was first published in The Rugby Paper on June 8.