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The BBC public vote 'Team of 2017' has been released and it might surprise you
By RugbyPass
The BBC have released a '2017 Team of the Year' composite XV which has aggregated the result of over 100,000 teams submitted from rugby fans from all corners of the globe.
It seems the British and Irish Lions exploits in New Zealand have weighed heavily on selection, with just one player from outside of either New Zealand or the Lions making the cut.
The selections saw five English, four New Zealanders, three Irish, one Welsh, one Scot and one Australian selected.
In terms of raw percentages, Maro Itoje was a clear winner, picking up 85,382 votes - although these were apparently split between secondrow and lock.
Beuden Barrett won 68 per cent of the votes for the flyhalf position, while Owen Farrell was able to take the 12 shirt with 48 per cent of the vote, holding off Sonny Bill Williams.
The selection is as follows:
15 Stuart Hogg
14 Elliot Daly
13 Jonathan Davies
12 Owen Farrell
11 Rieko Ioane
10 Beauden Barrett
9 Conor Murray
8 Kieran Read
7 Michael Hooper
6 Sean O'Brien
5 Maro Itoje
4 Brodie Retallick
3 Tadgh Furlong
2 Jamie George
1 Mako Vunipola
You may also enjoy 'The Dragons Lair', RugbyPass's behind the scenes look at the Dragons pre-season in Newport.
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Latest Comments
I still see nothing in Sotutus play that hes changed his upright running style that failed so many times against decent international defences like the french. Other than that… Iose? Well you have covered his limitations well. If Sititi had been playing the the season… Jacobson? Grace?…Neither shout pick me. So Ardie it is.
Go to commentsThere isn’t one element you mentioned there that every top class or successful team gets up to. The great All blacks sides used to play on the ‘fringes or edge’ but it was essentially saying they were doing something illegal or borderline to gain dominance. The fine margins at the top are minute between the top sides. La Rochelle, the crusaders, Saracens, Toulon etc etc…..have all been accused. Get over it, the comment comes across as salty and naive. Northampton as well as they played to get back into the match were thoroughly beaten and controlled for 60 minutes and Leinster have only themselves to blame for kicking it away and hence losing control of the match and being nearly the architects of their own downfall.
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