Your man on the side of the scrum

To complete the loose trio for the rugby365.com Team of the Year we need our readers to pick one more flank, with four more quality men to choose from for the No.6 jersey.

Only the best will do for our team, so there are many top class loose forwards who have missed out, but these four flanks all stood out and had fantastic years.

There is the difficulty with regard to openside and blindside flanks around the world, with South Africa picking their No.6 at openside, while the majority of the world uses No.6 for blindside. Here at rugby365.com we’ve decided that the fairest way to pick our team is to base it on the number worn on the players jersey regardless of whether they are openside or blindside – who says you can’t have two opensides anyway?

In our quartet of flanks we have one from each of the Tri-Nations teams and one northern hemisphere star to choose from.

Irish ace Sean O’Brien had a terrific Six Nations and was selected in the rugby365.com team for that tournament where there was some stiff competition.

O’Briens’s work and the ground and with ball in hand is top notch, and we saw more brilliance from him during the World Cup, where he played a big part in Ireland’s historic victory over Australia in the group stages.

The hard working Irishman is able to play on either side of the scrum and would be an asset in any side.

Thanks to his work for the Reds during their Super Rugby triumph, Scott Higginbotham is an option for the team.

His tireless work rate and physical presence is what got the Reds on the front foot so often and eventually helped earn him a more regular place in the Wallaby team.

South Africa’s superstar Heinrich Brüssow was key in the Tri-Nations victory the All Blacks and creates turnovers at will.

His scavenging on the ground is second to none and the feisty Cheetahs fetcher has quickly become one of the most crucial players in the Springbok side.

Brüssow was so good in Tri-Nations victory that he needed only one game to convince us he is still one of the game’s best poachers and was worthy of being No.6 in the team of the tournament.

The final players available for selection is All Black powerhouse Jerome Kaino, who was in the rugby365.com World Cup team of the tournament.

Kaino was often the forgotten member of the Kiwi loose trio with Kieran Read and Richie McCaw before the World Cup, but in the game’s biggest event he was massive and starred in almost every match.

It came as no surprise he was nominated for the IRB player of the year award and won the award for New Zealand player of the year more recently.

Which of these four would you most like to wear the No.6 jersey in our team?

There is still time to cast your vote for the best:

15: Fullback – (Israel Dagg, Kurtley Beale, Andrea Masi)
14: Right wing – (James O’Connor, Chris Ashton, Rod Davies)
13: Outside centre – (Brian O’Driscoll, Jaque Fourie, Conrad Smith)
12: Inside centre – (Sonny Bill Williams, Ma’a Nonu, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies)
11: Left wing – (Digby Ioane, Shane Williams)
10: Flyhalf – (Dan Carter, Quade Cooper, Rhys Priestland, Toby Flood)
9: Scrumhalf – (Will Genia, Mike Phillips, Morgan Parra)
8: Eighthman – (Kieran Read, Sergio Parisse, Imanol Harinordoquy, Radike Samo)
7: Flank – (Sam Warburton, David Pocock, Beau Robinson, Richie McCaw)