Bok power and the rise of Feinberg-Mngomezulu

HOW about this for a fixture that would rival a World Cup final — the British and Irish Lions versus a Rugby Championship Dream Team?

- MIKE GREENAWAY

We know it bothers the north that, of the 11 World Cups to date, the southern hemisphere has bagged 10 of them. Will the north ever add to that sole triumph of England’s in 2003?

Of course, the Lions don’t feature France or Italy, so how about a Six Nations Dream Team up against their Rugby Championship counterparts?

The southern hemisphere tournament has just finished, and what a thriller it was. Picking the best 15 from New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, and South Africa is both a selector’s dream and nightmare, given how closely matched the sides were.

I mean, who would you pick between Ardie Savea and Pieter-Steph du Toit for the No 7 jersey?

So, bearing in mind that I could pick two evenly matched Championship teams — and that this selection is based purely on form in the latest Championship — I’m going to publish and be damned!

Rugby Championship Dream Team

15 Juan Cruz Mallia (Argentina) — I'm immediately going to get into trouble for leaving Will Jordan out, but the contribution of the brilliant Toulouse fullback was staggering. No player made more metres with ball in hand than Mallia. Only two others across the Championship beat more defenders than him.