RWC2019: Absentee 23

The Rugby World Cup is less than a week away and we are now at a stage where all 20 nations have had to finalise their squads for the tournament. While there a plenty of players who will currently be thrilled at the opportunity to represent their country on the biggest stage, there will also be players left disappointed at missing out on a place in the squad, hoping they will get another chance in 4 years’ time. For some of these players, it will be badly timed injuries. For some, it will be a result of too much strength in one position. Some may have even found that their face just didn’t fit with the current organisation.

Today, as we continue to build towards the tournament’s kickoff, I will be looking to create a team from players who are set to not feature in the tournament. I was initially looking to select just a starting XV, but after arguing with my friend Gez over who deserved the 10 spot out of Cipriani and Anscombe, I decided to expand it to a full 23-man matchday squad – which simply took the argument to who should be the starter!

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Journey to RWC2019 series:

• Predicting the Wales squad
• Predicting the Scotland squad
• Predicting the Italy squad
• Predicting the Ireland squad
• Predicting the Fiji squad
• Predicting the England squad
• Predicting the USA squad
• Predicting the Argentina squad
• Predicting the South Africa squad
• Predicting the New Zealand squad
• Predicting the Australia squad
• Pool Stage Predictions
• Knockouts Predictions

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1: Karl Tu’inukuafe:- Maybe not the player most would have expected to take this spot given some of the Home Nations players missing out, but on recent international pedigree, I couldn’t leave Tu’inukuafe out. Nominated for World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year in 2018, Tu’inukuafe was a star for the All Blacks despite having been a security guard as recently as 2015. A strong scrummager who showed good skill in the loose, he misses out on a spot in the All Blacks squad courtesy of the depth at prop in New Zealand.

2: Dylan Hartley:- He may have potentially dropped behind Jamie George in the England pecking order, but the England captain would have still been guaranteed a place in the squad had his 2019 not been ruined by a knee injury. England have been missing his captaincy of late.

3: Owen Franks:- One of the biggest shocks from New Zealand’s squad announcement was the omission of Owen Franks. The tighthead has over 100 caps to his name and has played at 2 World Cups but has missed out as Steve Hansen has looked to more mobile options. With Franks set to join Northampton and become ineligible for international selection, it looks like his international career will end on the sour note of the Bledisloe Cup loss in Perth.

4: Richie Gray:- 65 caps for Scotland, 1 Test appearance for the British and Irish Lions, Top 14 champion as recently as this summer… That is a lot of experience to leave out of a Scotland side that needs big runners, but it looks like he will not be involved in Japan as he has chosen to take a summer off following injury issues and the birth of his son just a few months ago.

5: Will Skelton:- A behemoth who failed to live up to his potential in Australia, Will Skelton has revitalised his career since moving to Saracens and dropping a bit of weight to become more mobile. With just 18 caps to his name, Skelton falls well short of the threshold to allow him to feature for the Wallabies without playing in Australia, leaving him ineligible for selection.

6: Facundo Isa:- Capable of playing at 6 or 8, Isa should have so many more caps than the 27 he has currently earned. Unfortunately, playing in France has seen him enter an international exile and though he was given a chance this summer, he was unable to force his way into the squad as Mario Ledesma decided that he had sufficient home-based options available to cover the back row.

7: Seán O’Brien:- We have known for quite a while that O’Brien would be missing the tournament as it was announced in May that he would require hip surgery. Injuries have ruined his career in recent years and sadly it looks like his move to London Irish will see the Tullow Tank finish with 56 caps for Ireland and 5 Test caps for the British and Irish Lions.

8: Taulupe Faletau:- I almost picked Ben Morgan here after having one of his best ever seasons for Gloucester, but I could not leave out Taulupe Faletau. One of the best number 8s in world rugby, Faletau has 72 Wales caps and 4 British and Irish Lions Test caps to his name, but hasn’t featured for Wales since the 2018 Six Nations due to injuries. Sadly, he has been ruled out of appearing in his 3^rd World Cup due to a collarbone injury.

9: Rhys Webb:- With 31 caps for Wales and 2 British and Irish Lions Test caps, Rhys Webb is arguably Wales’ best all-round scrum half, but at 30 years old it looks like he will never feature in a World Cup. He missed the 2015 tournament due to an injury picked up in their warm-up match against Italy, then his chances of selection for this tournament were brought to an end when the new 60-cap rule was implemented shortly after the announcement that Webb would be signing for Toulon, making him ineligible for international selection.

10: Danny Cipriani:- I had resigned myself to Cipriani being left out, but that still didn’t make it any easier reading the England squad for the first time. Cipriani has revitalised his career with Sale, Wasps and now Gloucester, winning a host of awards and personal accolades this last season. Eddie Jones took him to South Africa where he set up Jonny May for the only try in their sole victory during their 2018 tour of South Africa. Sadly, it doesn’t look like he was given any real chance of making the squad by Eddie Jones.

11: Aphiwe Dyantyi:- The 2018 World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year looked certain to travel to Japan this time last year, but he has missed out on a place in the squad after injury issues stopped him taking any part in this year’s matches… and now his career is in jeopardy following the announcement of a positive test for a banned substance.

12: Ngani Laumape:- Owen Franks’ omission may have been the big news from the All Blacks’ squad announcement, resulting in Laumape’s not getting the attention it deserved. 5 centres vying for 4 spots was always going to result in someone missing out but the NRL convert has been one of the stars of recent Super Rugby seasons and has impressed when given a chance in the national team. Of the 5 centres, he would have been my first choice in the squad.

13: Mathieu Bastareaud:- France have plenty of different options at centre, but it was still a shock to see the experience of Mathieu Bastareaud left out of the squad. A hard runner and dangerous at the breakdown, it appears that Bastareaud lost out as the coaches looked at more mobile options. Following his omission, he has retired from international rugby and after a loan spell at Lyon (what will see him playing in the back row), he will be moving to Major League Rugby to play for Rugby United New York.

14: Santiago Cordero:- One of the most exciting players in the Premiership last year, Cordero thrilled at the 2015 World Cup and has got back to that form over the last season. Equally capable on the wing or at fullback, he joins Isa as one of the shock omissions from Mario Ledesma’s squad having been deemed surplus to requirements due to playing outside of Argentina.

15: Damian McKenzie:- A capable 10 but a wonderful 15 at international level, it looked like Damian McKenzie was about to make the fullback position his own for the All Blacks, using the extra space to devastate defences as a playmaker. Unfortunately, McKenzie suffered a season-ending knee injury in April, leaving Steve Hansen to look at other options.

16: Tatafu Polota-Nau:- Moving away from Australia to play for Leicester Tigers was always going to be a risky move for Polota-Nau. An established and experienced hooker, he had enough caps to still be eligible, but it still opened up a chance which Folau Fainga’a and Tolu Latu took to become the main 2 options. I thought He may still make it in as a 3^rd choice for his experience, but Michael Cheika chose instead to look to the future by selecting 22-year-old Jordan Uelese as the final hooker.

17: Rob Evans:- Despite being a former British and Irish Lion, Jack McGrath just misses out on a spot in the 23 to Rob Evans. Injuries have hampered Evans’ chance to train in the build-up to the tournament and in the end that proved costly, despite Evans being one of the best Welsh forwards in the loose.

18: Uini Atonio:- The La Rochelle behemoth was a regular in the France squad, but an injury early in the Six Nations opened up the opportunity for Demba Bamba to prove himself in senior international rugby. Throw in a return for the experienced Rabah Slimani and it made the battle for a spot on the plane much harder. Like Bastareaud, it looks like Atonio eventually missed out due to the coaches wanting more mobile options.

19: Devin Toner:- Probably the most shocking omission from the Ireland squad, Devin Toner has been a favourite of Joe Schmidt throughout his tenure, with his height and prowess at the lineout being a key reason. However, Tadhg Beirne’s return to Ireland and Jean Kleyn becoming eligible through residency made the Irish second row much deeper and in the end, Toner’s questionable form saw him left at home.

20: Pete Samu:- Capable of playing across the back row, Samu was beginning to establish himself in the Australian squad and finished the season well for the Brumbies. Unfortunately, an injury in the quarterfinals caused him to miss the start of this year’s international window and he saw himself fall behind Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Isi Naisarani and Jack Dempsey in the pecking order.

21: Danny Care:- A star for Harlequins and a regular in the England squad for so long, Care has seen himself plummet down the pecking order over the last year and has not featured for England since their win over Japan in November 2018, leaving England with very little experience at 9 behind Ben Youngs. Surgery following an injury in training has now denied him the chance of even being an injury replacement.

22: Gareth Anscombe:- Anscombe may have made himself the starting fly half but his early Wales career also saw him playing plenty of fullback, where he played for the Chiefs before moving north. Anscombe was almost certain to start at the World Cup, until he damaged his ACL and cartilage in his knee during the first warm-up match against England.

23: Huw Jones:- There were so many different ways I could go with this final spot, with names like Waisake Naholo, Chris Ashton, Juan Imhoff and Simon Zebo all eligible for this spot, but I chose to go a different way for this final spot and select Huw Jones. A few seasons back I would have argued that Jones was one of the best 13s in world rugby. However, a combination of injuries and falling out of favour at Glasgow saw his chances limited in a Scottish squad that is suddenly becoming very deep at centre.

 

Who are you most disappointed to see missing the World Cup?

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