Rugby: Picking the best from a Super history

The tackling rules have been tweaked this year. Photo / Getty Images

When Hurricanes midfielder Alama Ieremia scored against the Blues in Super rugby's debut in 1996, his try started a series tally which has grown to 6095 as the competition prepares to enter another season.

As the points have mounted so have the number of players who have slid in and out of prominence in the sides from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

Andre Joubert, Henry Honiball, Gary Teichmann, Mark Andrews, Ruben Kruger, Francois Pienaar, Percy Montgomery and Joel Stransky were South African stars in that debut year.

Stephen Larkham, Joe Roff, George Gregan, Patricio Noriega, Matt Burke, David Campese, Tim Horan, Jason Little, John Eales, David Wilson and Totai Kefu were men of equal stature in the Australian sides who started out on the professional rugby journey.

Those Springbok and Wallaby greats would all feature in debate about their nation's best since the series began.

New Zealand sides have been stacked with stars since that first game kicked off, under the refereeing watch of Paddy O'Brien on a balmy night in Palmerston North.

Many of the Blues and Hurricanes squads made it into the All Blacks that year and were a core part of the group who beat the Boks in South Africa for the first time in a series. You get the drift when you recall the impact of players like Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu, the Brooke brothers, Olo Brown and Sean Fitzpatrick.

Others like midfielder Tana Umaga had to wait another season before they clinched their first national jersey.

But they would all have their names on any lists complied to select the best New Zealand side since Super rugby kicked off. Debate about most contenders would be intense, lengthy and varied.

How wou and ld you separate the fullback talents of Cullen, whose runs mesmerised many of the world's best defensive players - or Mils Muliaina, who has 82 caps and is steaming towards the honour of the only All Black to reach a century of internationals?

Should we just pick the composite best from the Blues side which went through the 1997 season unbeaten (with one draw) and the 2002 Crusaders crew who won all of their matches. Do men like Mehrtens, Marshall, McCaw fit into the best of the best?

It would be a gritty, blind and completely Crusaders-averse rugby follower who would ignore McCaw for the line-up, but selection of the other pair would come in for enormous attention. How would the gifted Mehrtens compare with the attacking clout of Carlos Spencer? Does Spencer's longevity in the game give him more credibility, or do they both have to give way to the imperious Daniel Carter?

That answer is the same as the queries about openside flanker. McCaw and Carter - automatic choices.

The danger is that as the years roll by, the reputations of players from previous eras seem to improve. Rule changes have had an impact while defences these days are far better and much more organised than they were in some of the early years of the competition. So how do you rate a back three of Cullen, Lomu, and Jeff Wilson against Muliaina, Joe Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu?

Where does that leave the dependable and courageous Leon MacDonald, the try-scoring gifts of Doug Howlett and the thrashing power and athleticism of Joeli Vidiri? Vidiri had a brief All Black career and was later afflicted by kidney problems, but his work with the early Blues sides was wondrous.

Same with Reuben Thorne. He always polarised opinion, particularly when he was appointed national leader, but as captain of the Crusaders Thorne drew great results from his sides.

But does that qualify him for this Super side ahead of the muscularly abrasive Jerry Collins or other national captains such as Taine Randell and Todd Blackadder, who spent a fair chunk of their time in the No 6 jersey?

Tighthead prop Carl Hayman is being touted as a saviour for the national scrum if or when he returns from club rugby in England. He produced some superb form between the last two World Cups, but others with long successful tighthead tenures such as Greg Somerville and Olo Brown would be in any Super-side discussion.

Some foreign players have been involved with New Zealand sides. Christian Califano, Kevin Yates, Isa Nacewa and Marika Vunibaka have been some of the more high-profile names. None would make this composite side, but for another side would be an automatic choice.

Rupeni Caucaunibuca was an outrageously dangerous wing, a bloke whose pace, power and deception was at its zenith when he bamboozled George Gregan's defence at Eden Park. His dazzling displays were way too truncated but dazzlingly defining as well. Like Lomu he preferred the left wing, but neither of their talents could be ignored for this selection.

This selection is about Super form, not All Black form, where some such as Ali Williams or Frank Bunce, for example, seem to perform stronger than they did in the international provincial tournament.

There are those who would say Sione Lauaki's dynamic form for the Chiefs warrants his inclusion. But there can be no doubt about the finest New Zealand No 8 to play Super rugby: step forward Zinzan Brooke.

Everyone, it seems, is quizzed about their crystal-ball picks for the semifinals. It is easier to generate passionate discussions about the best players from New Zealand sides who have pulled on Super jerseys since that kickoff in Palmerston North years ago.

WYNNE GRAY'S SUPER XV:

Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu, Tana Umaga, Rupeni Caucaunibuca, Ma'a Nonu, Daniel Carter, Justin Marshall, Zinzan Brooke, Richie McCaw, Michael Jones, Brad Thorn, Norm Maxwell, Olo Brown, Sean Fitzpatrick, Tony Woodcock.