Sexton or ROG? David Wallace or Sean O’Brien? Bundee Aki or Gordon D’Arcy?
There is nothing like a debate of pure subjectivity to get the juices flowing.
When it comes to greatest of all-time conversations, no matter how good you think your argument is, there will always be folks that steadfastly stick to their guns.
Ahead of the Irish Rugby Awards, which will be held on May 15 in Dublin, event sponsors Zurich have come up with a team selector challenge. Rugby fans are being asked to choose a ‘Best XV’ of Ireland internationals that have graced the green jersey over the past decade.
This takes in Irish sides that, over the past 10 years, have won four Six Nations championships (including two Grand Slams), beat New Zealand twice, won tours to Argentina and Australia, and got to a couple of World Cup quarter finals.
It also includes absolute legends of Irish rugby, some of whom are still active and racking up trophies and individual accolades.
We gave the interactive tool a whirl – selecting our preferred player from a list of three options – and this is the XV we came up with (apologies to House of Rugby co-host Andrew Trimble!):
OUR IRELAND XV – 2009 to 2019
1. Cian Healy
2. Rory Best
3. Tadhg Furlong4. Devin Toner
5. Paul O’Connell*6. Stephen Ferris*
7. Sean O’Brien
8. Jamie Heaslip*9. Conor Murray
10. Johnny Sexton11. Jacob Stockdale
12. Gordon D’Arcy*
13. Brian O’Driscoll*
14. Keith Earls
15. Rob Kearney
So that is 10 current players in a very strong starting XV complemented by legendary stars Paul O’Connell, Stephen Ferris, Jamie Heaslip, Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll.
If you fancy a whirl at picking your preferred Ireland XV from 2009 to 2019, you can do it here:
Some collection of quality players there.
Anyone who shares their selected team will be in with a chance of winning a ticket to attend the ‘Blue Room’ with a friend at this year’s Zurich Irish Rugby Players Awards, on May 15.
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