Not bad going here and no major complaints on our end.
The final few days of 2017 is seeing a lot of ‘Best Of’ lists and end-of-year awards and accolades being handed out.
There has already been celebrations and consternation over the BBC and RTE Sports Personality and Sportsperson awards while SportsJOE will be asking you to vote for our own list of SPOTY nominees over the coming days.
In rugby, The Hard Yards podcast doled out some awards [from 27:00 below] for best player, try, legal hit and breakthrough player of 2017. On the website, we recognised Johnny Sexton as Ireland’s best and most consistent performer of 2017 while acknowledging the late, great charge of Ulster winger Jacob Stockdale.
Sexton and Stockdale have enjoyed fine years but neither man has made the Team of the Year selected by the BBC’as Rugby Union Weekly show.
Chosen after a lively debate between Chris Jones and former England international Ugo Monye, the XV contains three Ireland stars.
In the front row is the world’s form tighthead of the past 18 months, Tadhg Furlong. The Leinster prop is joined by another up-and-coming gem, South African hooker Malcolm Marx, and New Zealand’s Joe Moody.
Maro Itoje and Brodie Retallick are in the second row while the back row is heavily influenced by that thrilling Lions Test Series during the summer. Sean O’Brien is named blindside while Lions tour captain and New Zealand captain Kieran Read are, respectively, openside and No.8.
A “shoe-in” at scrum-half is Munster and Ireland’s Conor Murray. There was little doubting Murray getting the No.9 jersey after an outstanding year but there was some yak over who should partner him. Sexton did get a mention but it was left to Owen Farrell and Beauden Barrett to duke it out. Eventually it was World Rugby Player of the Year Barrett who got the nod.
Farrell was slipped in as inside centre, alongside Lions’ Player of the Series, the Welsh sensation Jonathan Davies.
Rounding out the team are a back three of Liam Williams, Rieko Ioane and Australian fullback Israel Folau.
Not a bad-looking team.
Read or Faletau? 🤔 Barrett and Farrell? 🤔@ugomonye and @chjones9 pick the Rugby Union Weekly Team of the Year ✍️👀
Who would make your team of 2⃣0⃣1⃣7⃣?
PODCAST 🎙️🏉 https://t.co/hvTqPUN4RH pic.twitter.com/17lE5K52h5
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) December 22, 2017
Look at those half-backs in reserve though, and no CJ Stander on the bench.
Can’t have everything, we suppose.
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