Dream Team
Rhys Crane, the former England sevens international and Bath, Sale, Nottingham, London Welsh & Ealing winger, chooses the best XV he has played with or against…
1. David Flatman – I don’t know much about the dark arts, but by all accounts Flats was up there as one of the best. Now ripping up trees in the punditry world with his refreshingly honest insights and quick wit which is just Flats being Flats.
2. Joe Duffy – A human wrecking ball, and I’m glad he was on my side during my Nottingham days. In today’s game he would be an elite club player or even higher.
3. Pete Edwards – “Pete the Meat”, to give him his nickname at London Welsh. Having the biggest calves in world rugby were the only thing stopping him from becoming a world-class fly-half, that and a Kit Kat addiction. For a big guy he could seriously play.
4. Danny Grewcock – Exists in a state of either “on” or “off” mode. Mostly operating at “on”, he was/is a true professional, but you didn’t want to meet him at the bottom of a ruck, even at training. Lovely man when in “off” mode.
5. Nic Rouse – Workmanlike second row with a great love and understanding of the line-out. Master of the cheap shot, both giving and receiving. Also a very good friend from our time together at Nottingham.
6. Sione Kalamafoni – Entire training sessions were spent trying to either tackle Sione or designing intricate plays to get him the ball. He would quite often score a length of the field try having run through most of the opposition.
7. Arthur Ellis – Ealing team-mate and better than his brother, Hugo. Arthur is genuinely one of the best all-round rugby players I have played with. Playing from hooker to centre he’s found his place in the back row and he is the full package. A man of few words but a leader by example. Still yet to see him smile.
8. Guy Thompson – Played with him at UWIC (now Cardiff Met). The energiser bunny –nicknamed “skittles”. One of the most annoying charactersacters to ever grace a rugby field, but so good you couldn’t leave him out. On balance, he’d end up annoying the opposition more. Could play anywhere across the back row.
9. Dwayne Peel – Probably one of the best readers of the game I was fortunate enough to play with. Could see things on the pitch no one else could and had the skillset to match his vision. Phenomenal athlete.
10. Charlie Hodgson – I’d like to think my opportunity at Sale came about from a corner flag tackle to deny him a match-winning try whilst I was playing for Bath. However, nothing smashes a winger’s confidence more than being caught regularly by a fly-half, as he would do to me and others in training. All-round great player with unbelievable rugby IQ.
11. Joe Maddock – Master of the broken field attack, took me under his wing at Bath and taught me things about back-three play I never would have considered, or could emulate. Made it look easy and natural.
12. Shontayne Hape – As a RL convert he was the master of the offload – England’s answer to Sonny Bill Williams. Excellent DJ and a great guy, always happy to teach you a few tricks of the trade.
13. Tim Streather – Majestic on and off the field. Went on to do great things at Saracens, when his body allowed. We spent many hours bonding whilst on adjacent physio beds at Nottingham.
14. Mat Turner – We made our England 7s debut together in George Town, South Africa. Whilst our 7s careers went in different directions, Mat being nominated for IRB Sevens Player of the Year, I turned back to 15s and made a good go of it. He was built for 7s.
15. Paul Williams – Talismanic at the back for Sale. Never a safer pair of hands and would tackle like a train. One of the nicest guys off the field and the meanest on it. The size of a back row with the skills to play right across the backline.
