Dream Team: Robin Copeland – Blues and former Leinster, Plymouth and Rotherham No.8
2. Rory Best – Another big leader who can pick up the guys around him. Rory is a great ball carrier and gets around the park really well.
3. Adam Jones – Probably the best scrummager I’ve even seen. Technically he’s perfect which shows how much work he puts in.
4. Donnacha Ryan – Donnacha hates everybody he plays against and takes everything really personally. He sees his job as to go out and make your life miserable and as a result can turn a game.
5. Bradley Davies – One of my teammates at the Blues, Bradley’s very intelligent and really knows the game. He’s also a big old lump who puts himself about really well. He’s huge for us and really consistent.
6. Sean O’Brien – It’s not necessarily the position he plays in the most for Leinster or Ireland but I think he’d do a very good job here. He’s more than comfortable playing at six and is a great ball carrier to have in your team.
7. Justin Tipuric – He’s got that ball in hand style and the speed to get away from people which makes him very dangerous. His work on the ground is brilliant as well.
8. Nick Williams – So hard to bring down you have to take him low. But the problem is he has that offloading ability which means people can feed off him and he is key to Ulster‘s gameplan.
9. Nikola Matawalu – It’s just unbelievable to see what the little Fijian does at Glasgow. He’s so quick and incredibly sharp and has that ability to make something out of nothing. He’s been devastating in the Rabo this year.
10. Jonathan Sexton – He’s probably the best out-half in Europe at the moment, the odd injury aside. I reckon he’ll be starting for the Lions this summer.
11. Tim Visser – A massive, strong guy and so hard to put down. If you give him the ball in a bit of space he’s lethal. Always very good for Edinburgh and stepped up well for Scotland.
12. Jonathan Davies – He has that ability to open up a game. A very dangerous player and I think he would be great in a partnership with the guy outside him.
13. Brian O’Driscoll – Everyone knows he’s capable of producing those moments of magic. Still an outstanding player and has been at the top of the sport for so long.
14. Alex Cuthbert – Alex must be a shoe-in for the Lions. An out and out finisher who works so hard to get involved and is just deadly when he gets the ball.
15. Stuart Hogg – It’s tough to leave out Leigh Halfpenny but I’ve picked a team full of great attacking players so I’d like to see Stuart in there. He’s so dangerous because he’s incredibly quick and always looking to try something.
