Who makes my England Rugby team of the decade?
It being June 2020, I know I’m a bit late to the party on topics like this but hey, lockdown allows us to finally get round to things.
I’ve used a combination of the number of caps, involvement in key victories and major tournaments over the decade as well as who I have enjoyed watching to create my team of the 2010s.
There are 3 England players with more than 90 test caps (putting them in the global top 99 all-time) that played predominantly in the 2010s. Ben Youngs (99), Dylan Hartley (97), and Dan Cole (95). They’re joined on the England top-10 list by Courtney Lawes (85) and Danny Care (84). This won’t be the last time I mention any of those players!
Firstly I’ll go through major tournaments over the last decade to outline key players and then go through my 1 to 15 — plus my 8 subs.
World Cups
During the last decade there have been three world cups, and to say that England’s success has been mixed would be an understatement. Here’s how the three world cups went down.
2011 World Cup
In 2011, England beat Scotland, Argentina, Georgia and Romania to top their pool and set up a quarter-final with France.
France stuttered through their pool, on the receiving end of one of the most embarrassing World Cup defeats of all time by losing to Tonga and getting through the group thanks to Tonga not managing to win against Canada.
As France tend to do, they went from ridiculous to sublime, seeing off England with an impressive display in Auckland and ending England’s World Cup at the Quarter Final stage.
The 2011 World Cup saw the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, Mike Tindall, Steve Thompson, Simon Shaw, and Lewis Moody putting on an England shirt at a World Cup for the final time. If I were doing a team of the 2000s, they’d all make the cut.
It also saw the emergence of Manu Tuilagi on the world stage and a first World Cup outing for the only three players to play in all three world cups this decade — Ben Youngs, Dan Cole and Courtney Lawes.
2015 World Cup
As a fan and holder of tickets to the 2015 World Cup, I’m still not quite over the trauma.
England became the first host nation not to make the knockout stage after they fell foul to the ‘pool of death’ which included both Wales and Australia. How did this happen you ask? The draw was conducted almost 3 full years before the tournament itself when Wales had surprisingly dropped down out of the top 8 in the world.
By the year of the World Cup, Wales were back up to 6th, creating a pool with the 4th, 5th and 6th best teams in the world. I’ve digressed here, but I’m still bitter about it!
Poor execution and decision making on the pitch led to a heartbreaking loss to Wales and was followed up by a somewhat inevitable loss to a superior Australian side in the final pool game. England were out before they even got going.
Because of this, there’s no notable performances or players worth discussing in terms of a team of the decade from the 2015 world cup. I certainly won’t be talking about Sam Burgess’s short rugby union career in this post…
2019 World Cup
2019 was a different story. Comfortably beating Argentina (aided by Tomas Lavanini’s 18th-minute red card for a high tackle) and the game against France being cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis seeing England comfortably topping the group.
A demolition of Australia in the quarter-finals was followed by arguably England’s best performance of all time — a crushing victory over New Zealand in the semi-final.
The final with South Africa was a bridge too far, with England dominated in the scrum and a deserved victory for the Springboks in the end.
Of the three World Cup teams, then, it is unlikely that the 2015 team will get much of a look-in, but the 2019 team absolutely will.
Six nations performance
Wales are the most successful team of the last decade in the six nations with 3 championships, two of these being grand slams. Ireland and England also have 3 championships in this period but just one grand slam apiece. France round off the list of champions with a grand slam championship back in 2010.
England bounced back emphatically from world cup devastation in 2015 with a grand slam championship in 2016, and then retained the title in 2017.
In fact, from October 2015 to March 2017 England won 18 straight games, smashing their previous record of 12 set in 02/03 and equalling New Zealand’s record.
England had a better second half of the decade than the first — with two six nations championships, an 18 game unbeaten run, a world cup final appearance and a brief stint at number 1 in the world rankings. 16 England players were in the Lions squad that drew the 3 match series 1–1 in New Zealand in 2017, including top points scorer Owen Farrell.
I think that’s enough background on tournaments over the decade. Now it’s time to pick the team.
The forwards
Loosehead Prop
Joe Marler made his debut in 2012 and has 71 caps to his name. Plus, he’s known as one of the funniest guys in rugby so I’d love to have him in and around the dressing room, but when he’s fit, Mako Vunipola is just too dominant to overlook. Mako gets the 1 shirt and Joe Marler takes 17.
Ellis Genge a.k.a. baby Rhino is like a, er, rhino in a china shop when he carries but as he only made his debut in 2016 and has only recently established himself within the England set-up, he doesn’t make it. One to watch for the 2020s team though.
Hooker
Captain for the 2016 grand slam and 2017 six nations championship triumph and with 97 caps, Dylan Hartley is the most obvious choice at hooker.
Hartley was a warrior on the pitch and I give him all the respect in the world for his longevity at the highest level, but he has his downsides.
Temperamental and prone to foolish and dirty tactics, he missed out on the 2013 Lion’s tour due to an 11-week ban for abusing a match official. He was banned for a total of 60 weeks between 2007 and his retirement in 2019.
As a creative and athletic hooker himself, I can’t think of a better mentor for Jamie George than the one he had at Saracens — Schalk Brits, probably my favourite hooker.
George’s first 17 international games were all off the bench — a record for most tests without a start, but he has amassed a further 27 caps for England and 2 for the Lions since then.
Despite Dylan Hartley’s huge amount of caps, captaincy and Lions selection in 2013, I’m going to go with Jamie George. For some time from 2016 onwards it seemed that Hartley was keeping George out of the 2 shirt by virtue of being captain rather than being a better player, and I was one of many ‘armchair pundits’ calling for the switch to George being the top hooker. Much of the talk was that Hartley was a ‘start or drop’ player — that he did not have value as a bench player.
I believe that George is a better, more dynamic player and has a far better temperament and character. Jamie George gets the 2 shirt and I will still reward Hartley for his record by giving him number 16.
Tighthead Prop
Dan Cole is second only to the great Jason Leonard in terms of caps with 95, made his debut in 2010 and was an ever-present throughout the decade. He also made the Lions team in 2013 and 2017 and has 3 caps for them. With those credentials, Dan Cole deserves to be my tighthead.
Kyle Sinckler has been a revelation since his debut against South Africa in 2016 and has won 25 caps since then. No doubt he’ll be an important player for England in the next World Cup in 2021, but he doesn’t come close to Cole in the team of the decade.
Dan Cole takes the 3 shirt, Sinckler takes 18.
Second Row
There are four locks that all deserve a shout out here. All four were part of the grand slam winning squad of 2016, six nations triumph in 2017 and world cup squad of 2019.
I’ll start with the two that don’t quite make it into the starting lineup.
Joe Launchbury is a quality operator that can count himself unlucky to be playing in a golden era of talent for English second rows otherwise he’d have had even more than his 62 caps.
George Kruis has similar credentials — 45 England caps but 3 Lions’ caps too. Personal preference but I’m just more of a fan of Joe, so he’ll go on the bench.
I’ve yo-yo’d in my opinion of Courtney Lawes a few times over the last decade. At times I thought he was one dimensional and a brute, and other times he can break a game alive and is a dynamic, multi-positional playmaker. Athletically, he’s a freak, but he’s developed his game so much over the decade and his 85 England caps 2 Lions caps are well earned.
Maro Itoje will go down as one of the best England players, and best second rows, ever. He’s a hybrid second-row/ flanker and despite being 6 foot 5 (1.95m) manages to get in at the breakdown like he’s 5 foot 5, is a tackle machine and he’s highly capable in the lineout. That’s before I’ve mentioned his attacking ability, of which he has plenty.
He dominated New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semi-final and despite only making his senior debut in 2016, has already established himself as one of the first names on not just England’s, but the Lion’s team sheet.
Maro and Courtney in the second rows are a formidable duo of power, energy, big tackles, mobility and a dominant lineout. It’s scary enough on paper, let alone in reality.
Flankers
At the start of the decade, I’d have put money on Steffon Armitage having a long and illustrious England career, particularly given the lack of quality opensides England have had in recent times. In 2011 he moved to France having only made 5 England appearances and never came back, ruling him out of future appearances due to the strict selection policy that players must play for an English club.
The Tom’s, Croft and Wood, have both gained a decent amount of caps at flanker, and both play their best rugby at blindside (6). Croft also has 5 caps for the Lions (he went on the 2009 and 2013 tours). There was a time when I thought Croft would play for England for a long time, but injuries set him back on more than one occasion and then with Robshaw being the captain, his chances of being picked diminished and he hasn’t picked up any more caps since 2015.
Wood has had more caps and longevity than Croft but did primarily play in England’s less successful years of the decade.
Chris Robshaw was captain during England’s least successful period of the decade. Despite captaining 42 games, England won only 25 under Robshaw’s captaincy and won no major honours. He certainly wasn’t England’s best captain but he was the epitome of work ethic, leading by example and a constant nuisance, particularly defensively.
Robshaw’s back row mate James Haskell has had a mixed England career, but he had a real purple patch towards the end of his career.
I’m going to go with Robshaw at 7, though. I just think he’s a better player than Haskell, plain and simple.
My pick at blindside is my most controversial of the entire team. He only made his debut in 2017 and has just 19 caps, but what a difference he has made to the England back row in that time. If all goes well he’ll make the team of the next decade, too, but the impact he has had for me surpasses that of Haskell, Wood and Croft.
So Tom Curry takes the 6 jersey and Haskell goes on the bench, with Tom Wood and Tom Croft missing out.
Number 8
This one doesn’t even need a token discussion. Billy Vunipola is an absolute beast with ball in hand, and media coverage from other countries tends to centre on his ability when coming up against England.
The only slight against him is that he is prone to injury, but that’s the price he (and us fans) pay for his bruising style that puts his body on the line week in and week out.
He has 50 caps, 8 tries and was also selected for the Lions tour of New Zealand in 2017, but had to pull out due to a shoulder injury.
Ben Morgan and Nick Easter both accumulated some caps in the early part of the decade and Nathan Hughes has 14 caps more recently.
Sam Simmonds is one to watch for in the coming years but Billy Vunipola is the number 8 of the decade.
The forward subs
It’s a hugely experienced group of forwards on the bench, with over 300 England caps, and all of them have been selected for the Lions.
The Backs
So that’s the forwards done, now it’s on to the backs. I’ve got 7 starting positions and 3 subs to pick.
Scrum-half
Had the 2019 Six Nations not been postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Ben Youngs would now be a member of the 100 cap club. He sits tantalisingly close on 99 and has been ever-present throughout the 2010s. As I mentioned at the top, there are only 3 England players that were involved in all 3 world cups so it should be a no-brainer.
But for much of the decade, I was a vocal petitioner for Danny Care starting above Ben Youngs because of the extra attacking threat through his sniping runs from the breakdown.
I can’t deny Youngs has improved throughout the decade, becoming fitter and more rounded in his game and I can’t argue with him being England’s scrum-half of the decade.
Richard Wigglesworth deserves an honourable mention but can’t compete with the 84 caps of Danny Care, so Care goes on the bench.
Fly-half
Owen Farrell is the first name on the team sheet, but where should I play him?
He’s England’s second all-time points scorer and at his current rate of points per game, would equal Jonny Wilkinson in 24 games.
With the Six Nations, Autumn Internationals and Summer Tours, it will take between 2 and 3 years to do this. A very doable feat given that Faz is still only 28.
He also has 82 England and 4 Lions Caps so he’s closing in on the 100 Club.
There’s only a couple of other fly-halves in the world that can compare to Farrell in the past decade for me — Beauden Barrett and Johnny Sexton. That puts him in illustrious company.
George Ford has 64 caps and 300 points to his name, all while being the second choice kicker and second-best flyhalf in the team. He’s fantastic on the front foot — a smart rugby player with great distribution from both his hands and his feet. He’s come under scrutiny over the years for his diminutive stature (as rugby players go!) and lack of defensive ability.
I want to play Farrell in his best position, though, so Faz is my 10 and Ford drops to the bench.
Centres
Brad Barritt was solid (metaphorically and literally) for England during his 25 caps from 2012–2015 and I’ve always been a fan Henry Slade, who hasn’t quite established himself as the regular starter he’d have hoped and has been somewhat hampered by injuries.
But my choices for 12 and 13 are Manu Tuilagi and Jonathan Joseph.
If you want to talk about careers hampered by injury, you’d probably start with Manu. He looked set to dominate the decade when he burst on to the international scene 2011. He missed a world cup, a lions tour and multiple six nations championships due to injury (and disciplinary action) but still has 38 caps and 17 tries. His family have pretty decent rugby pedigree, with five of his older brothers having represented Samoa internationally. Imagine providing high-protein meals for that lot?!
At 13, I’ve always been a big JJ fan — I love his ability to make something happen and get between defenders. He’s electric with the ball in hand and a great support runner. He’s fallen out of favour in the last couple of years but he had a real purple patch from 2015–2017, scoring all of his 17 tries for England in 2.5 years, including a hat-trick against Italy in 2016 Six Nations.
Back three
Mike Brown tops the charts of back three players with 69 caps this decade, and a total of 72, and only 8 of these were off the bench. He’s the only out-and-out 15 in the top 7 caps list of the decade and he was Mr dependable for the majority of his England career. Some may argue he was kept in the team a little longer than his form warranted but he goes in as my 15.
Jonny May is 5th on England’s all-time try-scorer list with 29 and needs just 3 more tries to move up to 2nd. He needs a total of 21 more tries to beat Rory Underwood’s record. If you’d told me back in 2013 that Jonny May would have been on an all-decade England team, I’d have laughed at you. He was a flyer, a finisher, but lacked the depth of skills and defensive ability needed at international level. Man has he proved me wrong!
My final pick in the back-three is Chris Ashton. He could, and should, have played far more than his 43 games for England during the decade.
He stormed on to the England scene in 2010 — scoring 6 tries in his first two six nations match and ending the 2011 World Cup as joint-top scorer, despite England being eliminated in the Quarter-Finals. He started all 5 matches as England won the Six Nations in 2012.
He was dropped from the England setup in 2014 and then successive bans (for gouging and then biting) kept him out through to 2017 when he left to play for Toulon and therefore became ineligible to play for England.
He also turned down Eddie Jones’s offer of being called up to the 2019 Rugby World Cup Squad.
In there then, there are at least 40 more England games he could have played in.
To back up his international credentials with some club stats, he’s the European Champions Cup top try scorer and he’s just 7 away from breaking Tom Varndell’s Premiership record of 92 tries so his prolific try-scoring ability for both club and country get him the final spot in my team.
Shoutout to Ben Foden for his wonderful hair, Elliot Daly for having a bazooka of a left-foot, and Jack Nowell for his rat-tail but my final position on the bench goes to Anthony Watson.
Watson can play across the back three and can make something happen with his kick-chasing, side-stepping and general energy going forward. He also started all three tests on the 2017 Lions’ tour of New Zealand and was one of the standout players in the 1–1 series draw.
The backs subs
There you have it, my team of the decade!
What do you think? Would you change anyone?
