Lions and Ireland great Keith Wood has named a solitary Welshman in a star-studded dream XV of players he lined up against.
The line-up also includes four Englishmen, three players apiece from New Zealand and Australia, two from South Africa, one Scot and an Argentinian.
Scott Gibbs is the former hooker’s one pick from Wales in a selection published via Off The Ball.
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Wood played against some brilliant centres during his Test career, among them Stephane Glas, who could run angles not even Pythagoras would have known much about, the granite hard Frank Bunce and Tim Horan.
How good was Horan?
His midfield mate Jason Little once explained: “When we were together, they said we were the world’s best centre pairing. I got dropped and Daniel Herbert came in, and they said he and Tim were the world’s best. There was a common denominator there — and it wasn’t me or Herbie.”
But Gibbs had greatness in him as well. Not only did he possess unbreakable mental strength, he was one of the sport’s great defenders, a leader and a ball carrier who caused midfield defences all kinds of nightmares. You can read more here about Welsh rugby's one-off hero who few people really know.
He arguably peaked while playing alongside Jeremy Guscott and Wood for the Lions in South Africa in 1997, but there were also wonderful contributions for Wales and Swansea before and after that fondly remembered tour of 25 years ago. You can read here about the day Gibbs made the earth shake.
Wood, who featured with Gibbs against the Springboks back then, said: “I played against him and I played with him. He was about as destructive as it comes as a 12.
“He was extraordinary — absolutely solid, a total tank.”
Unsurprisingly, Wood teams up Gibbs and Guscott in his team, which also has Christian Cullen at full-back and Jason Robinson and Jonah Lomu as wings.
Keith Wood’s dream XV: Christian Cullen (New Zealand); Jason Robinson (England), Jeremy Guscott (England), Scott Gibbs ( Wales ), Jonah Lomu (New Zealand); Stephen Larkham (Australia), George Gregan (Australia); Tom Smith (Scotland), Mario Ledesma (Argentina), Jason Leonard (England), Martin Johnson (England), John Eales (Australia), Francois Pienaar (South Africa), Ruben Kruger (South Africa), Zinzan Brooke (New Zealand).
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