Readers, cast YOUR POTY vote!
We’re into the final month of 2011, a blockbusting year of rugby, which means there’s just one thing left to do… It’s time to pick our Team of the Year and this time we want you, our readers, to join in the fun; starting with fullback.
Instead of just naming our team at the end of the year, as has become a tradition at rugby365.com headquarters, this year we want to give our readers the chance to let their voices be heard as well.
For the next 15 days we will feature a different position every day (starting with fullback today), giving you the chance to air your views and vote for the player you felt stood out above all others in his respective position.
The candidates will be restricted to players who featured in our different teams of the tournament for the World Cup, Tri-Nations, Six Nations and Super Rugby.
Once we have run through all of the positions from fullback to loosehead prop we will tally the readers’ votes and unveil our ‘readers’ team’ which we will then compare with our official Team of the Year which has already been selected.
So make sure to log on every day to make your selection for each position and ensure that the readers’ team can compete with the mighty rugby365.com Team of the Year when the time comes to compare the two!
First up we have the fullbacks, and the first selection is perhaps one of the toughest. There were quite a few players who made a big impression in the No.15 jersey this year, and there are more than a few potent individuals who are not even up for selection.
The rugby365.com fullback of Super Rugby and the Tri-Nations was Waratahs and Wallabies livewire Kurtley Beale.
The elusive Beale is one of the most devastating counter-attacking forces in world rugby and punished opponents time and again when given the slightest bit of space this year.
He is the type of player that makes you sit up in your seat when he gets the ball and is hard to beat for sheer entertainment value.
Unfortunately, Beale’s World Cup was curtailed by injury and he was denied the opportunity of showcasing the full range of his talents in the knock-out phase of the global showpiece.
The Six Nations fullback of the tournament was Italian dynamo Andrea Masi who was also voted as the official RBS Six Nations Player of the Tournament in an online poll.
Masi secured his place in Italian rugby folklore by scoring a dramatic try in his team’s famous come-from-behind victory over France in Rome.
He also crossed the whitewash when the Azzurri went down to Scotland at Murrayfield, and made enough of an impression to beat off challenges from England’s Ben Foden and France’s Maxime Medard to get selected for our Six Nations team.
The final contender for fullback of the year is enthusiastic All Blacks star Israel Dagg who was our fullback of the World Cup.
Although he missed much of the Super Rugby season through injury, Dagg confirmed his considerable class with some irresistible performances in the black jersey.
The Crusaders man plays the game with great vigour and watching him scythe through a gap with his mouth wide open has become one of the great sights in world rugby.
Dagg’s positional play and confidence under the high ball make him one of the most trustworthy players around, but it is his game-breaking ability that normally steals the headlines.
His instinct for a gap and silky handling skills were perhaps best displayed when he set up Ma’a Nonu’s try against the Wallabies in the World Cup semifinal with a sensational off-load which left the crowd with their jaws on the floor.
So, which of these three deserves to be called the best fullback of 2011? Let us know by leaving your vote and analysis below!
