New results from an anonymous poll conducted among current New Zealand Super Rugby stars has revealed who the majority of players believe the "biggest grub" in the country is.
A 40-question survey conducted by NZME's Sam Casey has offered an insight into the real opinions heldby New Zealand's Super Rugby players – from established All Blacks to professional rookies – about the state of the game nationwide.
Casey said he surveyed "over 100 players" from New Zealand's five Super Rugby franchises, with the release of initial results on Monday causing a stir following the revelation that almost half of the poll's participants disagreed with New Zealand Rugby's decision to appoint Ian Foster as All Blacks head coach.
46 percent of pollers, which included at least 15 players from each Super Rugby club, said they weren't happy with Foster's appointment.
Only 28 percent of players supported NZR's decision to promote Foster from his position as Steve Hansen's assistant, while a further 26 percent said they were "happy with Ian Foster but not the assistant coaches".
With the results of 10 questions from the poll to be released each day this week, other interesting revelations found from Monday saw Beauden Barrett voted the best player in New Zealand with the backing of 40 percent of the nation's players.
Barrett was also overwhelmingly voted the best first-five in the country with 58 percent of the vote, while Anton Lienert-Brown (66 percent), George Bridge (46 percent) and Damian McKenzie (47 percent) were regarded as New Zealand's top midfielder, wing and fullback, respectively, by their peers.
Hurricanes hooker Dane Coles celebrates his try with teammates as Beauden Barrett gets caught up in celebrations. Photo / Photosport
Arguably the biggest talking point in the release of a further 10 results from the poll on Tuesday was that 44 percent of players voted Dane Coles as the "biggest grub" in the New Zealand game.
Brodie Retallick sat in a distant second with only 15 percent of the votes, while Jordie Barrett wasn't far behind him with 13 percent of players voting for him.
Another intriguing aspect of Tuesday's findings was that Australian official Angus Gardner was picked as the best referee in Super Rugby, receiving almost half of the players' votes with 47 percent of the participants' backing.
On the flip side of the equation, recently-retired referee Glen Jackson received 48 percent of the vote in the running for Super Rugby's worst official.
Here is a full list of the poll results released so far:
Do you think NZR got it right with the new All Black coaching team?
No: 46 percent Yes: 28 percent Not assistants: 26 percent
