Nah ferris had highest peak just was made of glass (similar to SOB i guess)

Surely not of any nation? SOB was a great player but he’s nowhere close to that level. Not even Ireland’s best 7

D’Arcy vs England in 2004 alone is enough to include him. Tore the world champions asunder that day.

I'd have Henshaw in

He's said in interviews that because of his size and gaining weight as he aged he played every position except lock. He was smart enough to hold onto the skills that would be useful. How often do you see a hooker sidestep in his own try area and then kick the ball downfield to win a penalty in 3 points?! I've never seen it since; he makes my all time XV.

Dan Sheehan may already be ahead of wood. If not - he will be soon

@@darraghobrien7110 He is good, Set piece is maybe on par? Hard to judge that without numbers. Running lines and pace probably exceed Wood but Wood had a better sidestep and a kick so he gets my vote. Very excited to see Sheehan grow though.

​@jbmboy only Irish player to win the IRB award. Still number 1 for me

Fantastic comment, as an Irish man in Cape Town, best team this weekend (urc) and next and looking forward to a great world cup!

@@ronansimpson6807 stormers all the way lol!!!! Cherz buddy

O Mahony and Earls - Jesus wept !

Agree on Wallace ,great in 1997 Lions and Claw when switched to loosehead was a revelation

Karl Mullin was captain of the grand slam team of 1948 team not Jack Kyle

Of course it shows a bias towards modern players; those old timers would have been torn apart playing today.

@@MKRM27 The genuinely great players are always capable of adapting to circumstances - that's why Mike Gibson makes this team.

​​@@MKRM27they would be far superior, if they had the same training, fitness benefits, nutrition etc, that's available today.

Fergus Slattery has to be in the team.

D'Arcy gets it for me . Seen them all play and think some people didn't realise how good D'Arcy was because he was beside BOD . But all great players

@@alcoyne3333333333333 Dricco was world class. That's a given. But Darcy on his inside made him untouchable at times.

Solid comment.

Totally agree on Gibson Old Boy. You know yer onions.

I would go for O’Connell

Super promising, really hope he's not reached his peak. Most players don't look that good so early on, and he's taken that world XV no8 shirt from Savea and Alldritt if you ask me.

He does, he's getting there quickly. He's beat NZ more than Heaslip.

@@Keeks749 Interesting, but I do not yet agree. I currently believe Savea and Alldritt are both well ahead of Dorris. Alldritt for his ball carrying and Savea for his awareness and creativity.

@@MKRM27What you say now? 😮

If you want to compare these older players to ones of today, I don’t think your comparisons will fair too well. They’d simply be too slow, too small and too weak to compete. It’s a struggle to compare players from 20 years ago, to those playing the game today - let alone those from the 50s.

@@MKRM27 These older players may have been smaller, weaker and slower, but they were amateurs who rarely trained (by comparison with their modern professional counterparts); what might they have achieved under modern conditions, with fitness coaches, dieticians etc?

@@MKRM27 Too small??? Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy are both considered small in that case. World Class talent is not predicated on size.

Agree about Ferris and I'm a Munster fan. I also believe Dan Leavy was on his way to becoming the best in his position in the world.

1F was imperious when fit and firing. Problem for him was injuries at key times. Hendy is having the same problems and I think he will be superseded by Baird for this RWC.

Is this a haiku?

He's class, but very difficult to beat a hooker who won a world player of the year

I think that list of top players back then, defines why we were basically mediocre in daul days.

@@fredschmidt9705😅😅😅

where tf is Johnny Sexton ?

'Hugely overrated player. Shane Jennings was a far better 7.

Would have loved to have seen Ferris 6 Wallace 7 O'Brien 8

Agreed!

"Donnacha Ryan for WJMcB" ... you cant be serious. Donnacha Ryan wasn't even first choice for Ireland at his best never mind making a Greatest Ireland XV ever. McBride of Ireland and Colin Meads of NZ were the greatest locks of their generation. McBride did 5 Lions tours and captained the legendary unbeaten Lions tour of SA in the 70's. Based on his record alone, many would have him in a greatest World XV ever.

@@MickyBrownEye1 I know, we all know who he is. I get it. but I never saw him play so I don’t have him. The game has changed so much he was 6’3” he wouldn’t even be considered now as a 2nd row I just don’t see the point of comparing players from that generation. Donnacha Ryan is the most under-rated player since I can remember

@@briancurtis5796 Thats the problem with doing a 'Greatest of all Time' video. Most people never saw the greats of bygone years. Thats why you have to compare them with the best of their era. You are right; he was 6' 3" and 17st 12lbs which would barely get you into the back row these days, but that was big back in the day, and on ability he was head and shoulders above his contemporaries, and thats why he toured 5 times with the Lions. The Lions are the pinnacle of a rugby career. It says you are the best of the best, and to be picked for the test sides means another level again. Thats why you cant ignore players like McBride, Gibson, and Slattery. Each of them were the best of their generation. Not just in Ireland but in the whole world.

@@MickyBrownEye1 I completely agree with you and all his iconic moments were in a red shirt, he has more lions caps than ireland caps. I’m not denying his greatness in anyway. I’m not presenting my team as the definitive greats it’s my team based in what I’ve seen. Otherwise you’d have to include Tony o Reilly fergus slattery Jackie Kyle maybe Mike Gibson all of whom deserve inclusion based on their reputation and none of whom I’ve seen and can genuinely make a judgement on.

People forget just how good Geoghagan really was. One of my favourite players ever.

@@davet6079 He had huge pace to burn. I remember praying for a good foot race between him and Ieuan Evans.

@@Rasperdan Ieuan was another class player

Whah?!

I don't know enough about pre 2000s Welsh players to give a fair assessment on who would be their best ever XV. Gareth Edwards and Barry John would probably be considered the best 9&10 pairing, beyond that I'd be picking players from 2000s onwards

@RelentlessRugby Thank you, JJ Williams was another great player. OK, thank you for the reply

​@@RelentlessRugbyFrance?

Agree 1000%. I might include Kearney but he was only world class I would say later in his career.

@@johnmc3862Not at all. Kearney was class all through it. 2009 Lions tour he was fantastic. Most decorated player in Irish rugby history.

Agree with you on Keenan. Complete footballer. Kearney could catch. That was it. Gibson for Darcy. And btw, you cant move Earlsie. He is the best individual attacking-defénsive player Ireland's ever seen. Amazing consistency at the highest level, for yonks. Really happy he is going to France. Born for the big moments. Im a Leinster man btw.

@@fredschmidt9705 “Kearney could catch” is about as misinformed a comment as I’ve ever seen on the game of rugby. You think he accidentally got 95 caps for Ireland, went on two Lions ties and is Ireland’s most decorated player of all time? You think it was picked for Leinster 219 times because he could catch? Cop on.

I agree. It’s difficult to compare players from 20 years ago, let alone those from the 1950s. The size, speed and resultant power of those playing the game today would see those older players seriously struggle to compete. Nostalgia is a nice feeling, but it can’t compete with physics.

That works both ways , lets see these modern players juggling a playing career with a full time job and then judge them when they cant train around the clock to beef up and sprint like gazelles around the field. Physics is is a great thing but it cant compete with talent. A professional Mike Gibson would be terrifying on the pitch - he had 69 caps for Ireland , in todays game that would be 200 !!

sorry but O’Brien could never give opponents hell in both attack and defence the way POM does, he’s a top class grifter who can read the game superbly even at very tight moments he can spot where the opp’s are vulnerable & for me that’s why he’ll always be the master of the dark arts!

@@karlosdeevs so o Brien was moved to 7 when Wallace retired. Pom couldn't even get him out of the 6 jersey until o Brien literally changed position. SOB won European palyer of the year. He strolled into starting lions teams while pom grafted to make squads and got subbed off at half time for making zero physical impact on the game. He's a better jackler and the best back row lineout operator I've ever seen. He's also thrived the last two years by really developing his hands but make no mistake about it, he's part of an incredibly well balanced backrow where the strengths of others balance out his weaknesses. I love pom, he's only guilty of not being better than the best backrow player we've ever produced. One of the few players you never once heard MZ fans say was overrated. SOB was a total freak.

@@jeffrey89095 yh, agree Seanie was always no.1 at speed and bumping off players. For the 2nd half of an injury-wretched 2018 Pom was usurping him at 7. By the time Ireland beat the AB’s on home soil that November, Pete had finally reached his element whilst O’Brien was slowly disembarking the ship. But even if he accomplished being the favourite 7 (when not a 6) for Pom’s first 6 years, it was Pom who took the hard yards in finally earning it. He’s succeeded in so many areas where Seanie didn’t have the keys to, compared to Pete he was thrust in and never had to worry about anyone ahead of him given Wally’s sudden injury. For Pete after 6 yrs looking over shoulders, he’s now clocking on another 6 as the beating heart of the back-row. Sure Pom doesn’t have as many lions caps (yet) but not many can say they captained them for a first test outing..

@@karlosdeevs SOB peaked earlier and injuries ruined his 30s the only thing pom had was longevity and then o Brien went abroad for 3 season after two big injuries which is the only reason. At no stage of their careers if o brien was even half fit did pom get ahead of him. I respect pom taking the hard yards and he did, but o Brien didn't have to take hard yards to grind to a jersey because he was so good he just started all the time. That speaks to ability it wasn't some divine privilege. Leadership 100% pom has it in spades which is how he got that lions cap but he also got subbed at half time of that game for having no physical impact which isn't speculation that's what gatland said in his autobiography. It was also his only cap. And it's true if you actually look at his stats his dominant tackles and carrying ability is not world class or even great, poor at times but balanced by other great carriers we have. However his hands, lineout work and cleverness/shithousery has meant he's put himself in the right place at the right time to be the perfect element to balance that backrow. But he's our current third best backrow of that 3. It's not an argument Pete had to work harder, it's incredibly admirable but it's still about ability. Toner had to work incredibly hard to minimise his shortcomings to get the run he did in that Irish team. Doesn't mean hes better than POC who "strolled in" insofar as SOB did I'd say the same with o Callaghan who is probably the least talented but hardest grinder to ever make an Irish team, admirable but he's not better than POC, Ryan . Keeping in mind SOB had to grind himself to make that Leinster team with elms there and having to step into those shoes. By contract POM had an easier in to the Munster team did he not? I also wouldn't agree POM was "looking over his shoulder". Rather he's the guy other backrows had to look over their shoulder at, he has spent a lot of his career behind Ferris, stander, SOB (again until he moved to 7). He's shining now though and has adapted his game so so well and cleverly. It says a lot that in a career cut short by injury o Brien amassed 56 Irish caps and 5 B&I caps, whereas O Mahony who has nearly a century of caps still only has the 1. He's a great player and strolls into the second best Irish team of all time but he wasn't as good as SOB and was never considered better at any stage they played at the same time before SOB hit the mid 30s

@@jeffrey89095 ok

Hickey was definitely better than those two wingers, as good as they were and Simon geoghan and they'd probably admit that themselves

Who would you have picked?

@@Dreyno Stander for me was a way more powerful player and had a way bigger impact on irish rugby

@@sikaan983 He was more powerful but nowhere near the footballer. Heaslip was an absolute baller and went on two Lions tours. He won 3x Six Nations including a grand slam, 3x Heineken Cups and 3x leagues. He was nominated 2x as world player of the year and 4x European player of the year. Stander just did not have anywhere near the all round game that Heaslip did. And I say that as a fan of Stander and I’m not from either province involved.

@@Dreyno I always felt like we could depend on Heaslip to pull out some moment of individual brilliance when the rest of the forward pack weren't having much impact carrying the ball. I never got that with Stander.

@@spudmurphy278 Stander was as honest as the day is long. He’d carry all day into the teeth of the defence. But Heaslip could play a reverse inside pass or dummy a pass and carry 30m into open ground. He could truck it if needed too but there was so much more to his game.

You agree with it? That's crazy. You actually think D'arcy deserves his spot over Mike Gibson?

@@alanrobinson7891 fair point, it's just that Mike Gibson was a wee bit before my time. From what I've heard though he was amazing.

@@garthmcguigan2357 not only was he one of the greatest Irish players of all time, but one of the worlds greatest players of all time. 5 lions tours. What did Darcy have, one? And he was shockingly poor on it.

@@alanrobinson7891 in the end that‘s not down to Darce, more to do with with bad run of injuries to Lions‘ best players and the fact that Nz were at their zenit whilst the Lions‘ crop couldn’t gel and find the right footing..

😂 Teams always improve. Recent team Still got no further in the WC if they’re so good. You’ll be talking nostalgic bollox when you’re old enough. Saying this current team is the best ever.

@@johnmc3862 I watched the old team champ, we only become decent in 2018, we were a ranked 5-8 team consistently before that, if you genuinely think this is the perfect 15 and would even compare with the current 15 you’re deluded

These 15 were all world class at there peak

WJMcB has a wee special place in all our hearts, I imagine people will talk about BOD, ROG and a few others in the same way when I'm an even older man, haha.