Dream Team: Former Connacht flanker and Bristol Bears defence coach John Muldoon

1 Andrew Sheridan

Extremely good prop who played for England and the Lions. A real top quality scrummager for such a big man.

2 Keith Wood

Illustrious career with Ireland and the Lions. Dynamic hooker, great around the park and changed the game.

3 Tadhg Furlong

Put the hard yards into skills and fitness levels and all-round ability is phenomenal. So young still, which is testament to the player he could yet become.

4 Sebastien Chabal

He played a fair bit in the second row and his ability to carry the ball was incredible. Played in a great Sale team and was top quality for France.

5 Paul O’Connell

Picks himself as a lineout operator and the level of professionalism he brought to Ireland and Munster was huge. A cornerstone of those packs for years.

6 Filo Tiatia

Quality impact player who I always looked out for when we met Ospreys. The level he brought aged 35 or 36 was massive in what was a very good Ospreys team.

7 Ray Ofisa

Samoan who came to Connacht and was the epitome of a player who trained like Jane but played like Tarzan. Speed and ability was everything you wanted at No.7.

8 Kieran Read

Thought he was overrated when I played against him in 2010 but after 30 minutes I realised how strong and good a player he was. Shown that for a decade now.

9 Kieran Marmion

Aggressive, with a phenomenal eye for a break. Moody, stroppy… everything you need from a scrum-half and a big game player at Connacht.

10 Johnny Sexton

World player-of-the-year who has an aggressive way and knows exactly what he wants and who he wants it off.

11 Tommy Bowe

Played Irish U21s with him and in his hey-day for Ireland he’d be a go-to man with X-factor to come up with the big play. Never made a mistake in defence.

12 Casey Laulala

Ability to offload and make something out of nothing was second to none. Could always unlock a defence in minimum space and make people look good.

13 Brian O’Driscoll

Brilliant going forward but his ability to jackal, tackle and how aggressive he was in defence showed his character. Did that in every game, not just the big ones.

14 Shane Williams

Probably told he wouldn’t make it because of his size, but lightning feet, searing pace and attacking ability made up for it.

15 Brendan Williams

I’ve gone for all-out attack here and always thought this guy was brilliant for Treviso. Ridiculous feet, so quick and not a man you want to kick the ball to.