Russ wrote:bazzaj wrote:I was hoping to establish a back 3 by now but we have lept to back row.
I will go with my back 3 and Russ' s centre combination of Nonu and Giteau.
Halfbacks then I will suggest Biggar who has been a revelation and Du Preez just ahead of Gareth Davies and Laidlaw both of whom were excellent.
Just halfbacks!
See how it works.
Jupiter's c0ck!
Biggar? The boy can wiggle and kick but little else
Sanchez was a revelation
Toyed with Aaron Smith but wee Greg has been exceptional
Theres that other thing in rugby Russ which is tackling and Biggar put his body on the line
He also organised his defence brilliantly with a makeshift back line and continually performed under pressure.
He couldn't really get his back line moving because he didn't have one but always kept his team going forward with his tactical nouse.
Bear in mind he had a 90% goal kicking ratio despite not being a first choice kicker coming into the tournament and most of those were pressure kicks which the stats don't show.
Also he didn't throw any intercept passes for scores which gives him the nod over Sanchez for me.
For similar reasons Gareth Davies would have to be considered at 9 coming in as a second choice and scoring 4 crucial tries.
Laidlaw was also superb for Scotland with his kicking and leadership.
However its Du Preez for me, who was brought on to start every game after that Japan defeat and was soley responsible for their change in fortunes.
Brought in organisation, control and tactical know how they had lacked and took the decision making pressure off Pollard.
Total master class that took them to a whisker of the final as well as scoring the decisive try v Wales in the quarters.
Not bad considering hes almost 34 and semi retired in Japan.
Aaron Smith hasn't scored since the opening game which is surprising given the arm chair ride he has had.
Not always a requirement but considering what the others have done that I have mentioned it puts him down the list.
Having just said that makes him a cert to score in the final.