There is a consolation coming for the unlucky player in the inaugural Baz & Andrew’s House of Rugby Awards, but we’ll get to that later.
Each year, the BBC ask rugby fans to submit their Best XV from players the world over. The uptake is always huge and some 60,000 people made their selections. From those picks, the World Team of the Year was assembled, and there are six Irish names in that XV.
Cian Healy, Tadhg Furlong and Peter O’Mahony are all included in the pack, while Johnny Sexton, Jacob Stockdale and Garry Ringrose are in the backline. Remarkably, and wisely, 92% of the 60,000 voters had Furlong at tighthead.
World Player of the Year Johnny Sexton got 61% of the outhalf selections but the consolation prize for New Zealand’s Beauden Barrett is that he made the team at fullback.
Unlucky Irish players to miss out are CJ Stander and Dan Leavy, who were both included in the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly Team of the Year, and Leinster lock James Ryan.
The absence of Ryan – SportsJOE’s second best Irish player of 2018 – is the most glaring. That Brodie Retallick made it into the fans’ second row is unsurprising but how England lock Maro Itoje got more votes than Ryan, we’ll never know.
The Rugby Union Weekly Team, selected by Chris Jones and Ugo Monye. has eight Irish players included.
Furlong is there, along with Ryan, and there is an all green back row of O’Mahony, Leavy and Stander. Sexton, Stockdale and Ringrose are in the back row but Healy misses out to Springboks loosehead Steven Kitshoff.
BBC FANS’ TEAM OF THE YEAR:
Ryan can console himself with another end of year accolade. On Baz & Andrew’s House of Rugby [from 45:00 below] the 22-year-old was awarded the Young Player of the Year after seeing off some fierce competition.
Ryan was up against his Leinster teammate Jordan Larmour and try-scoring sensation Jacob Stockdale, but he took home the prize.
“The phenom himself, James Ryan wins,” Andrew Trimble confirmed.
“He has been ridiculously consistent this year. Has lost once for Ireland and [twice] for Leinster.”
Ryan can add the latest prize to a 2018 collection that includes a Six Nations Grand Slam, Guinness PRO14 title, Player of the Series accolade from the victorious Australia tour and a Champions Cup winners’ medal.
CHECK OUT THAT HOUSE OF RUGBY EPISODE HERE:
