2. John Smit – Faced him when he was playing at Saracens. A big ball-carrying, abrasive hooker. Tough to tackle and liked to put some big shots in.
3. David Wilson – Never seems to go backwards in the scrum at Bath. Barely understand a word he says but a good guy to have in your team.
4. Stuart Hooper – The best captain I’ve played under. Inspirational leader who always puts his body on the line.
5. Paul O’Connell – Always hard to play against and a slick lineout operator. I don’t think I beat Munster with the Scarlets and he was a big reason why.
6. Thierry Dusautoir – Due to injury I had to play back- row against Toulouse this year. It was a baptism of fire playing against a world class player like him in my first outing at No.6.
7. Francois Louw – Quality player. A nice guy off the pitch but a mean guy on it. Always seems to come up with the big play whether it’s turning ball over at a critical time or scoring a try.
8. Taulupe Faletau – World class No.8 who’s played for Wales and the Lions. Always seems to be able to make something out of nothing. Breaks a lot of tackles and is a quality lineout option.
9. Dwayne Peel – World class at the top of his game. A threat around the base with a top-class pass. Big character off the pitch, too.
10. Stephen Jones – You can’t have Peel without this man. Scarlets and all round legend. A warrior on the pitch and a great kicker.
11. Semesa Rokoduguni – Every time he gets the ball I feel we’re going to score a try. You can breathe a sigh of relief as nine times out of ten he seems to score or at least break a few tackles.
12. Regan King – I played with him at Scarlets when he was at the top of his game. In training he’d turn me inside out at least a couple of times. I’ve never seen anyone do the things he used to do with a ball.
13. Jonathan Davies – He can shift for such a short, fat man! He’s got some intricate skills and is a bit of a battering ram. We grew up in the same town and it’s awesome to see him doing so well at Clermont.
14. Rene Ranger – Played against him this year down in Montpellier. He’s such a threat and can score tries at will. A strong guy with a great step and hand-off.
15. Nick Abendanon – I remember the first training session at Bath where I rounded him for a try! But he’s gone from strength to strength since then and it shows as he’s European player of the year now.