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30th December 2019
03:22pm GMT

(Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)[/caption]
Rugby World went for Fiji's Nemani Nadolo on their right wing, with Keven Mealamu (NZ), and the Aussie pair of David Pocock and Michael Hooper the other big shouts.
Looking at all of the teams, however, and our green-tinted glasses were drawn to a damned good XV selected by Planet Rugby. They picked a top three for each position before awarding the gold medal, and a place in their team, to 15 lucky players. Two are from Ireland.
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(Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile)[/caption]
There are mentions for Paul O'Connell, Johnny Sexton and Brian O'Driscoll for their respective positions but the two Irish players in their final XV were Tadhg Furlong (tighthead) and Conor Murray (scrumhalf). On Furlong, who beat Owen Franks and Kyle Sinckler to the No.3 jersey, they write:
'Our rumbustious winner is Wexford’s favourite farmer, the massive Tadhg Furlong, a man noted for wit and humour and someone that’ll go toe to toe with the best looseheads in the history of the game and already is unbeaten in two Lions Test series'With 'defence, kicking and cover tackling as essential as passing' and his Lions performances allied to being world-class for most of this decade, Conor Murray gets the No.9 shirt, ahead of Will Genia and Aaron Smith.
15. Israel Folau (Australia) 14. Ben Smith (New Zealand) 13. Jonathan Davies (Wales) 12. Ma'a Nonu (New Zealand) 11. Bryan Habana (South Africa) 10. Dan Carter (New Zealand) 9. Conor Murray (Ireland) 1. Tendai Mtawarira (South Africa) 2. Schalk Brits (South Africa) 3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland) 4. Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) 5. Brodie Retallick (New Zealand) 6. Jerome Kaino (New Zealand) 7. Richie McCaw (New Zealand) 8. Sergio Parisse (Italy)
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