Sam Warburton causes a stir with his rugby dream XV

Monday, 25 January 2021 at 09:38

byRugby Rucker

Sam Warburton has named the greatest international team he played against, and it has caused a bit of stir with a huge names missing out.

The 32-year-old’s selection, which he made in his recent book, Open Side, included six All Blacks, but two huge names were missing

However, there was no room for two of New Zealand’s all-time greats, Dan Carter or Richie McCaw, who have to make do with a place on the bench.

Stuff.NZ reported the former Wales captain’s selection under the headline “Warburton snubs Richie McCaw and Dan Carter” after the two legends were omitted from the XV.

DID YOU KNOW? Sam Warburton, who captained the Lions in 2013 and 2017, has an older twin brother, Ben, who played at semi-professional level with Glamorgan Wanderers RFC and is now a physiotherapist for the Cardiff Blues.

Check out his selection below.

Sam Warburton’s best international team he’s faced:

BACK-THREE:

Fullback: Israel Folau (Australia)
Winger: Bryan Habana (South Africa)
Winger: Julian Savea (New Zealand)

CENTRE:

Outside-centre: Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
Inside-centre: Ma'a Nonu (New Zealand)

HALFBACKS:

Fly-half: Jonny Wilkinson (England)
Scrum-half: Will Genia (Australia)

FRONT-ROW:

Loosehead-prop: Andrew Sheridan (England)
Hooker: Bismarck du Plessis (South Africa)
Tighthead-prop: Carl Hayman (New Zealand)

SECOND-ROW:

Lock: Sam Whitelock (New Zealand)
Lock: Paul O'Connell (Ireland)

BACK-ROW:

Blindside-flanker: Jerome Kaino (New Zealand)
Openside-flanker: David Pocock (Australia)
Number 8: Kieran Read (New Zealand)

REPLACEMENTS:

Guilhem Guirado (France), Cian Healy (Ireland), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Maro Itoje (England), Richie McCaw (New Zealand), Aaron Smith (New Zealand), Dan Carter (New Zealand), Stuart Hogg (Scotland).