TVOR's Dream Team

Ok, here is my dream team. Please note this is the team selected from the players I grew up watching over the past 30 years.


1. Os du Randt
2. Sean Fitzpatrick
3. Olo Brown
4. Martin Johnson
5. John Eales (c)
6. Richard Hill
7. Michael Jones
8. Wayne Shelford
9. Nick Farr Jones
10. Johnny Wilkinson
11. David Campese
12. Tim Horan
13. Brian O’Driscoll
14. John Kirwan
15. Christian Cullen

Psst...Graham Henry and Co

Memo to Graham Henry and co. Too often you seem to select players that you think will fit into your system or playing style you are trying to adopt rather than just selecting the best performing player in that position and this may be part of your undoing. I call it the 'select and hope' policy you seem to have adopted.

In some ways it may have clouded your judgement when making selections. You are, in other words, over thinking it. You have comitted to a certain playing style for example and are then trying to find the right players to make it work. This is a somewhat flawed approach IMO because the opportunity cost is that you may have to trial more players to find the right fit and/or have players playing out of their preferred postion to make it fit. For example, you may be looking for players that are comfortable under the high ball to suit your game plan but at the same excluding a player that is a try scoring, specialist right winger.

It’s an outside in approach rather than an inside out approach and that's what bothers me. Wayne Shelford summed it up best when he said ‘they are just doing their job’ (click on title 'Psst...Graham Henry and Co' for the interview) in an interview many years ago. Keep it simple by just selecting players in their preferred positions, have faith in them and make sure they are doing the basics better than anyone else ie ‘doing their jobs’ and the rest will take it of itself.

Bring Back Buck?

The All Blacks don't seem to have a specialist number 8 of any great quality at the moment and I have an idea.

Many may argue that converted number 8, Kerian Read is the answer but I am not convinced. Don't get me wrong he is a handy player and is obviously well respected by his peers but just don't think he is the long term answer at 8 for the All Blacks.

There just doesn't seem to be anyone else putting their hand up at the moment. Short of making a comeback myself maybe it's time to bring back Buck? Fit or not just get him on the field. His presence alone might be enough to strike fear into the opposition.

If Wayne 'Buck' Shelford was playing you could rest easy because it was almost inevitable that the All Blacks would win. In fact, apart from being a member of NZ's first and only World Cup winning side, he captained the All Blacks undefeated from 1987 to 1990.

He encompassed everything that was great about Rugby. He showed great leadership, respect, toughness and most of all, was humble. Qualities that may elude some of the players running around these days.

However, it got me thinking, is there anything else you would like to bring back from the good old days or Rugby that's perhaps missing in the modern era?