You are reading a single comment by @Saffronspokes and its replies. Click here to read the full conversation.
  • Billy has been a bit of a dead weight since he broke his leg but he was one of the best 8s in the world for a couple of seasons. How you can have him and AWJ as the 2 most overrated players is beyond me. If you want hype, look at big Sam Burgess. Want overrated look at quade cooper or Billy 12trees.

  • Billy has never been one of the worlds best 8s in my opinion. He never shows up against decent opposition (read not the 6 Nations). AWJ is credited for his longevity rather than his talent, he'd be uncapped if he was from SA.

  • There's a lot to unpick in this comment. Firstly, "decent opposition = not the 6 nations" - presumably the inference is that the Rugby Championship teams are the benchmark for international quality? Let's look at that:

    SA vs Wales last 5 matches: SA 1 - 4 Wales
    SA vs Ireland last 5 matches: SA 2 - 3 Ireland
    SA vs England last 5 matches: SA 3 - 2 England
    Aus vs Wales last 5: Aus 3 - 2 Wales
    Aus vs England last 5: Aus 0 - 5 England
    Aus vs Ireland last 5: Aus 1 - 4 Ireland

    I'm not going to bother with NZ (we know they're head and shoulders above, albeit Ireland and England have had as much success against them recently as SA) and Argentina/Scotland/Italy/France, but to suggest that Southern Hemisphere is currently significantly superior to Northern doesn't hold much water when the recent head to heads look like they do.

    Billy never shows up against decent opposition. NZ semi final 2019. Saracens vs Leinster 2019. 3 man of the match performances in 2016 grand slam etc...

    AWJ would be uncapped if South African. Having won 4 out of the last 5 matches against them, I'm not sure many would agree with you there...

About