Dream Team: Darryl Veenendaal – Nottingham scrum-half

1. Alan Paver – He played so many games for the Pirates over the years and ruled the roost in the front row when I was coming through the ranks. A true club legend.
2. Dave Ward – It was tight call with former Nottingham hooker Joe Duffey but Dave gets the nod for how good he was every time I faced him when he was at Pirates.
3. Harry Williams – Tightheads are all about scrummaging and that’s the one thing you can’t fault him on. Did really well with Jersey and has stepped it up at Exeter.
4. Paul Tupai – The old fella is still going strong. He managed to develop his game to keep himself playing. Very clever with tons of tricks to make sure he’s ready to go on the weekend.
5. George Kruis – He came to Bedford on loan when he was 18. It was boy against men but he held his own and ran our lineout. Gone on to do the same with Saracens and England now.
6. Phil Burgess – A tight call with Darren Fox who was Bedford’s muscle man but Phil was always a nightmare to play against. Very hard to move at the breakdown and great to see him get an Olympic medal.
7. Sacha Harding – Very strong and very quick putting in a lot of tackles. He played a lot of rugby for Bedford in the Championship for good reasons.
8. Paul Grant – He’s gone back to Otago now but he’s the best player I’ve played with regardless of the position. Scored so many tries for Nottingham last season.
9. Gavin Cattle – He was the full package as a scrum-half. Gavin could pass, run or kick with brilliance for so many years at the Pirates.
10. Jake Sharp – Miles Dorian ran him close but Jake gets it. Even the coaches at Blues struggle to separate them because they’re both very good.
11. Sinoti Sinoti – I played against him the other week in pre-season and he was unbelievable. Strong, quick and big. The Newcastle flier is a very hard man to stop and looks back to his best.
12. Mark Atkinson – We used to play together at Bedford before he moved to Gloucester. A very good ball playing inside centre who’s like a second playmaker.
13. Tim Streather – Tim’s very quick and very hard to defend against and that’s why I picked him over Bedford’s Oli Dodge. The seamless way Tim made the step up from the Championship to Saracens was pretty special.
14. Joe Ajuwa – The former London Welsh wing was like Sinoti, very hard to defend against because of his sheer size and power.
15. Rob Cook – Another former Cornish Pirate in the team. Rob’s very sturdy at the back and rarely makes a mistake and he did well with Gloucester.