Some quality talent left behind.
All the squads are now in and while the lucky 31 players for each country can now fully focus on the task at hand, there are plenty of disappointed men who didn’t make the cut, many of whom would walk into most other panels heading to England this month.
The likes of Manu Tuilagi, Aaron Cruden and Jonathan Davies have been ruled out for some time and so have not been considered, but here is SportsJOE’s top ten players who just narrowly missed out on selection for the World Cup, unless they get called in as a late replacement, which appears to be likely judging by the comments of several coaches when naming their squads:
10. Heinrich Brussouw
The 29-year-old openside’s surprise comeback to the Springbok fold, where he made three starts in the recently completed Rugby Championship, fell short of an actual place in South Africa’s squad, although he has been placed on reserve for the tournament by coach Heyneke Meyer.
9. Marco Bortolami
The veteran lock and former captain’s time with the Azzurri looks to be at an end as he was left out of Jacques Brunel’s squad. The 35-year-old second row can be proud of his 112-cap career though.
8. Luther Burrell
The rise and rise of rugby league convert Sam Burgess saw Burrell sacrificed. The centre has remarkably gone from starting every game in the past two Six Nations campaigns to missing out on Stuart Lancaster’s squad entirely.
7. James Hook
We’ve known Hook, still only 30, would be on the couch this month for some time after Warren Gatland cut him from his plans almost three weeks ago, but that doesn’t lessen the surprise that the New Zealander dispensed with a versatile Grand Slam-winning veteran with 78 caps and a Lions tour on his resume.
6. Andrew Trimble
The surprise omission from Ireland’s panel, Trimble’s struggle to recover from injury left him on the outside looking in. But Ireland’s player of the year for 2014 will be on call and if he can prove his fitness could well be the first number dialled by Joe Schmidt if one of his outside backs succumbs to injury.
5. Charles Piutau
Ulster-bound in 2016, in-form Piutau was one of the stars of the Rugby Championship. Pacy, reliable in the air, rock solid defensively and able to play anywhere from 12 to 15, Piutau smacks of the ideal candidate to help fill out a tournament squad. Nehe Milner-Skudder and Waisake Naholo will need to produce big things to justify their selections.
4. Napolioni Nalaga
The big Fijian winger has not recovered in time from an undisclosed injury picked up in this summer’s Pacific Nations Cup but coach John McKee has placed him on World Cup standby. The 29-year-old, who scored 104 tries in 166 games during two spells with Clermont Auvergne, would have been a huge weapon for the Fijians as they battle Wales, England and Australia in Pool A.
3. Francois Trinh-Duc
The French out-half has been edged out of Les Bleus’ squad by mercurial veteran Frederic Michalak, who booked his place at the World Cup with a 17-point haul in France’s victory over England a fortnight ago.
2. James Horwill
Horwill, Australia’s captain at the 2011 World Cup, was the shock omission from Michael Cheika’s squad, with ex-Leinster man Kane Douglas among those preferred to the 30-year-old, 58-Test stalwart of the Wallaby pack.
1. Israel Dagg
The biggest name left out of the All Blacks squad, Dagg has done little wrong when wearing the silver fern and remains one of the premier full-backs in the game. The brilliant form of Ben Smith and New Zealand coach Steve Hansen’s decision to go with only one specialist full-back in his squad left Dagg, on the players of the 2011 World Cup, watching this one from afar.
