The Jersey Reds and former North Otago, Bedford, Nottingham & Wasps hooker, chooses the best XV he has played with or against
1. Simon McIntyre – Good mate of mine; a great, experienced scrummager who also hits great lines and has the biggest chest in world rugby, fact. He also has incredible taste in music which varies between many genres. A man of many talents.
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie – Great all-rounder, very good carrier and scrummager. One of the best hookers in the world in my opinion and has been for some time.
3. Vincent Koch – World Cup winning tight-head. Strong scrummager and class across the paddock. I like his flashy bright boots also, a good trendsetter for us front rowers.
4. Joe Launchbury – Most underrated second row in the country. Great work rate, huge man, great leader and one of the nicest blokes around. Crazy to think how he is not a Lion.
5. Paul Tupai – One of the toughest blokes I have ever played with. He was still smashing people at the age of 44 when I was at Bedford with him. Incredible bloke as well who, if you need anything, knows a guy who can help you. A legend of the game.
6. Ashley Johnson – A great sight in rugby, seeing a 120kg man with a 4ft round (in diameter) Afro charging at people. The only man I know that runs into contact at 200mph and has to wear new shoes every three weeks as the outside of his shoes are flattened.
7. Thomas Young – The man can do anything. Great skillset, jackaler, tackler, carrier, and even kicker, whilst always being that player that is running support lines on line breaks. He is also one of the nicest blokes I've ever met.
8. Billy Vunipola – One of the biggest men I've ever played against. Relentless, dominant carrier of the ball and it always takes two/three people to stop him. He is one of the best ball carriers to play in the Premiership.
9. Antoine Dupont – Unbelievable player and probably the best player in the world right now. He was a lot younger when I played aga played against him, however, he tore us to pieces on his own.
10. Danny Cipriani – This man knows more about rugby then anyone I've ever met. How he reads and plays the game is just on another level to everyone else around him. Extremely talented rugby player and a great guy who gave me a lot of advice.
11. Elliot Daly – This guy can play anywhere in the backs, Very talented player and also has an extremely big left boot that can ping three points from 50 metres plus. This is a lovely touch for any front rower, let me tell you.
12. Kyle Eastmond – Like Danny Cipriani, Kyle just has an incredible rugby brain. Those two attacking the line together was incredible to play with and to watch at Wasps, his ability to draw defenders and pick the right pass was unbelievable.
13. Juan de Jongh – One of E the funniest guys to ever be around and play with, this includes a backlog of movie quotes he will fire out at any given time in and around training. He also is quite relentless on social media too, which is quite funny to watch.
14. Christian Wade – Iwould say he is the best player I have had the privilege to play with. Raw pace and footwork. He could literally step you in a phone box. Chris is also a very skilful drummer like his brother Adam.
15. Willie le Roux – Another Springbok World Cup winner. Very, very talented player. Great vision, footwork and great cover defender. There is literally nothing this bloke can't do, he's even very good at poker.
