Anyways, today I decided to pick my 'Sevens team from the Gods'. The squad is pure fantasy, with any player from any era available.
The Starting Lineup
1. Jonah Lomu (New Zealand)
Watching back old tapes of Lomu's heyday, it's hard to believe that Jonah was real and not some kind of media created myth/ legend. As former England Captain Will Carling once remarked; 'He is a freak and the sooner he goes away the better'. Replaying footage of the game which preceded Carling's quote....where Lomu, despite stumbling, still manages to trample all over Mike Catt's face on the way to scoring 4 tries in a rugby world cup semi final...the tapes look... fabricated somehow. They are not though.
Lomu was the real deal...the first true global superstar of the sport. Standing 6 foot 5 inches tall, weighing over 20 stone as a schoolboy and still being able to run 100 metres in under 11 seconds, Lomu was the 'Frankenstein' blueprint for the perfect rugby player. At 15's he was terrifying, devastating, a rugby player's laxative....any number of superlatives fit the bill for this beast. At 7's though he was close to INVINCIBLE.
2. Eric Rush (New Zealand)
If it wasn't for a certain little Fijian (to be mentioned later), Rush would be the name most synonomous with rugby sevens. One of the greatest players to play the game, Rush is a true Sevens legend. He played wing for the All Blacks until a certain Jonah Lomu came onto the scene and converted himself into a forward to play sevens. His distinguised sevens career began in 1988 and ran until past his 39th birthday in 2004. He played in over an incredible 60 tournaments; his career highlights being two Commonwealth Games gold medals and a World Cup Sevens win in Hong Kong in 1991. He also captained NZ to gold medals in the first 6 series of the IRB International Sevens Circuit which started in 1999, making his country a truly dominant force during his era. Rush is Dumptackle's captain of the 'Sevens Team from the Gods'.
3. Christian Cullen (New Zealand)
Christian Cullen, known affectionately as the 'Paekakariki Express' burst onto the sevens scene in the same sevens tournament in Hong Kong as Lomu, blitzing the opposition wioth ease. The opposition were often to be seen sat on their backsides, dumfounded by Cullen's balance, acceleration and surprising strength. He emerged as a real force to be reckoned with in that tournament, scoring an unprecedented 18 tries (including 7 in one match) as he led them to the title.
The full back from Manawatu then managed to be called up for the AB's before his 20th birthday, going on to reinvent the fullback position in modern rugby. Cullen was a complete counter-attacker, scoring a record 46 tries for the All Blacks in a seven year stint wearing the black jersey. He also remains the all-time leading try scorer in the Tri Nations with 16. Despite his heroism in 15's though, Cullen could not neglect his desire to play sevens, being included in NZ's commonwealth games team and playing an integral role in their gold medal performance.
4. Waisale Serevi (Fiji)
Serevi is a legend of the Sevens game, both as a player and a coach and consequently a national hero in Fiji. Sevens is like a religion in Fiji and Serevi is literally worshipped for his feats on the field. Even away from his home country...when you think Sevens you think Serevi and that will be his legacy.
He is the automatic answer to the question of 'who is the best player in rugby sevens history'. He earned two world cup winners medals during his career and even when his playing career ended he coached Fiji to a gold medal in the World seven Circuit, arresting NZ's record of having won the first 6 consecutive tournaments. Serevi is the master with dancing feat and he will be the orchestrator of this fantasy team.
5. Danny Gerber (South Africa)
Danny Gerber's world-wide fame has been thwarted by the sporting isolation South African sportsmen suffered as a result of their country's regime of appartheid during part of the 20th century. There's no doubt about it though, Gerber was one of the most talented rugby players to ever take the field for his country.
Playing predominantly as a centre, he earned 24 caps for the Springboks over a 12 year period. He was a beast of a player, with electrifying pace and his ability was acknowledged by IRB Hall of Famers Martin Johnson and Bill McClaren, who both named him in their all time XV's. There are others who could possibly have got this position in the team, but I wish I could see more of Gerber play and for that reason he's in!
6. David Campese (Australia)
A true maverick, David Campese is the top try scorer in test rugby history with 63 tries (if you do not include records set by Japanese players against the like of Singapore etc). It turns out he wasn't too shabby at sevens either. Blessed with enviable pace, creativity and the ability to do something completely off the cuff...Campese's team mates might not know exactly what he was about to do, but then again neither did the opposition. Their may have been players with a more illustrious sevens record, but I couldn't leave Campo out of the side. This is a fantasy team after all.
7. Marika Vunibaka (Fiji)
Vunibaka carved out a decent career for himself at the Crusaders as they began to forge an era of unparallelled success in Super Rugby during the late 1990's but it was in sevens that he truly excelled. New Zealand's stalwart sevens coach Gordon Tietjens once described him as the fastest player he had ever seen. With all the talent Tietjens has seen.... that is quite an accolade. The flying Fijian played in 3 World Cup Sevens tournaments during his career in 1997, 2001 and 2005 and was the winner on two of those occasions (1997, 2005). He was also the top try scorer in the former. Every team needs pace out wide to finish things off and for that reason Vunibaka has to be included in this fantasy team.
Reserves
Gareth Edwards (Wales)
JPR Williams (Wales)
Vai'ga Tuigamala (New Zealand)
Jason Robinson (England)
Brian Lima (Samoa)
Serge Blanco (France)
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