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Victor Matfield has named his best all-time Springboks XV

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Paul Cunningham/Corbis via Getty Images)

Victor Matfield, the most capped Springboks international of all time, has named his best South African XV. The retired 45-year-old played in 127 Test matches for his country, starting with a June 2001 debut in Port Elizabeth versus Italy and finishing with an appearance in the third-place playoff versus Argentina in London at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

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Now a rugby pundit, he appeared this week on the latest RugbyPass Offload and was asked to name his best-ever Springboks team, a challenge that proved awkward. “It’s not easy,” he said before starting off his team by revealing his loosehead pick.

“It’s touch and go between Os du Randt and the Beast [Tendai Mtawarira] but just because I played more games with him I have to go with Os du Randt. Hooker, same thing. John Smit, my captain. Bismarck du Plessis is the best hooker I played with it but all the best things I won, John Smit was there so I am going to go with John at No2.

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“At tighthead, I am going to go with a guy that I didn’t play that many games with, but I just think he is unbelievable. I played in 2015 with him, Frans Malherbe, and he is still winning games for South Africa week in, week out.

“In the second row, do I have to pick myself? You said I have to be in there. I need to go with a combo with myself and Bakkies (Botha) – although I think that Eben Etzebeth is probably the best lock that the world has ever seen. He has got the physicality of a Bakkies Botha.

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“If he is on the field no one will get in his face. Everyone takes a step back. Everyone talks about Maro Itoje, the Lions Test match, he started hiding because he couldn’t stand up to Etzebeth. And then he is athletic. If a kick goes up, he is the first guy going up to catch that ball and he is just all over.

“He has got an engine that you can’t believe. He can’t call lineouts but his athletic ability to get in the air is just unbelievable. But Bakkies playing with me, the way we just worked together – I’ll go with Bakkies with myself.

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“Openside I am going with Heinrich Brussow. He was a match changer for us when he came in. We always played with Schalk Burger at openside. Jake (White) didn’t believe in a real fetcher in the game but when Heinrich Brussow came in in 2009, he just changed the way we played and we were much better with him at openside.

“Blindside flanker I am going with Juan Smith. He played for us in the World Cup and was just a guy that never stopped, was in your face the whole time just coming on defence, on attack and I mean at the lineout time he was very good as well.

“And No8, Pierre Spies was unbelievable, but you need to have Schalk Burger in your team so if I don’t pick Schlak Burger at openside, I am picking Schalk at eight. He developed into that player in his career as well.

“In the beginning of his career, he just wanted to smash into everything and everyone. At the end of his career, he just had that skill of being that first receiver, playing options in front, behind and he just had a beautiful skill set but he still had an engine. So Schalk is at eight.

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“At nine, Fourie du Preez, the best player I played with my whole life against and with. Just an unbelievable player, so that is an easy choice. Also, my vice-captain if I am the captain. We won a lot of trophies.

“Ten is difficult for me. Butch (James) was unbelievable but I am going with a youngster I coached before I played with him and then I played with him at the 2015 World Cup. He is probably not your natural fly-half but he knows how to win games and he is just such a tough guy, so Handre Pollard at 10 although I just played one or two seasons with him.

“Centres? Thirteen is easy, Jaque Fourie, the best 13 I played with by far. Twelve is difficult. Jean de Villiers, Frans Steyn but I will go with Jean de Villiers because I played with him for a very long time.

“Frans is an unbelievable player as well. He can slot in there any time and he came in 2007 when Jean was injured and we won that World Cup, so Jean and Jaque are the centres.

“The wingers are easy, Bryan Habana on the left and JP Pietersen on the right. Two legends, guys who can finish. Everyone knows about Bryan, but I think JP was very underrated, but he finished every time he got an opportunity. He was solid in defence and so good under the high ball.

“And then at 15, Mr Consistency, Percy Montgomery. And we need those blonde locks in team as well just for team spirit.”

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Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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