Gloucester hooker Seb Blake picks his career dream team

The Rugby Paper Team

2 days ago

Tags: British & Irish Lions, Dream Team, England, England u20, Fiji, France, Gloucester, Henry Slade, La Rochelle, Lions, Maro Itoje, Premium, Saracens, World Cup

GLOUCESTER hooker Seb Blake chooses the best XV he has played with or against over the course of his career.

Forwards

1. Val Rapava Ruskin – My Gloucester teammate is one of the best props I’ve seen over the ball at the breakdown. Also, a very powerful scrummager and top ball carrier.

2. Pierre Bougarit – As a hooker he is a player I looked up to. Busy around the park for La Rochelle, solid set-piece and I think he will be in and around the French squad for a while.

3. Uini Atonio – Another top-class Frenchman. He’s a world class scrummager and you don’t want to be running down his channel when he’s defending. Massive bloke!

4. Maro Itoje – One of the best second rows in the world who is a constant presence on the pitch for 80 minutes.

5. Will Skelton – Another massive guy. For his size he is incredibly athletic and will knock walls in the opposition defence for fun. Was huge for Saracens and now at La Rochelle.

6. Ruan Ackermann – Relentless ball carrier for Gloucester and repeatedly puts in a performance every time he plays.

7. Levani Botia – Unbelievable over the ball and has unreal skills with ball in hand. Will chop tackle players all day long. Been an unbelievable player for La Rochelle and Fiji for a long time.

8. Zach Mercer – So elusive with ball in hand, he will make yards every time he makes a carry and is a great leader on and off the pitch. Huge player for us last season.

Backs

9. Ben Youngs – A great game manager and has a wealth of experience. There’s a reason why he’s the most capped England player.

10. Matthieu Jalibert – One of France‘s best 10s, he is a massive threat in attack and seems to pick out the right option every time he has the ball both for Bordeaux and France.

11. Jonny May – He’s got pace to burn and if you give him a sniff of the try line he will score. Will be missed at Kingsholm this season.

12. Jonathon Danty – Will always give you go forward off first phase with his bulldozer carries and is one of the most physical centres in the game. Huge part of the success in both La Rochelle and France teams in recent seasons

13. Henry Slade – Top player with ball in hand and have seen this season how he can win a game for his side in the dying seconds of the game. Was pleased to see him regain his England spot after missing the World Cup.

14. Jack Nowell – Massively physical for a winger and has gas to burn when given the space to race away and score tries.

15. Santiago Carreras – Great on the ball, has all the skills in the book and will set players up for tries all day while finishing some off himself. Been a superb player for Gloucester.