Everybody likes picking an all time best rugby union team but it makes it difficult if you try to compare players from the professional era (1995 to present) with players from the amateur era. Professional era players will be better conditioned and also the rules of the game are so different. Here are my teams from the different eras. The professional era is being dominated by NZ and the amateur era was dominated by SA and the numbers below reflect that.
Professional era:
15 Christian Cullen (NZ)
14 Bryan Habana (SA)
13 Brian O Driscoll (IR)
12 Tim Horan (AU)
11 Jonah Lomu (NZ)
10 Dan Carter (NZ)
9 Joost vd Westhuizen (SA)
8 Zinzan Brooke (NZ)
7 Richie Mccaw (NZ)
6 Michael Jones (NZ)
5 John Eales (AU)
4 Martin Johnson (EN)
3 Martin Castrogiovanni (IT)
2 Keith Wood (IR)
1 Os du Randt (SA)
Amateur era
15 Serge Blanco (FR)
14 David Campese (AU)
13 Philippe Sella (FR)
12 Danie Gerber (SA)
11 Carel du Plessis (SA)
10 Phil Bennett (WA)
9 Gareth Edwards(WA)
8 Morne du Plessis (SA)
7 Hennie Muller (SA)
6 Jean-Pierre Rives (FR)
5 Colin Meads (NZ)
4 Frik du Preez (SA)
3 Richard Loe(NZ)
2 Sean Fitzpatrick (NZ)
1 Okey Geffin (SA)
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