Wynne Gray: McCaw shines in my pick for team of tournament

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Think back through the Rugby Championship.

The All Blacks retained their title while players like halfback Aaron Smith and skipper Richie McCaw produced another string of strong performances.

However when sports data company Opta gathered their stats for a meeting about their team of the tournament, the pair missed the cut.

Opta's rules for their best-of team were players had to start at least four tests in the Championship to qualify, a guideline which several choices like Bok halfback Francois Hougaard and Malakai Fekitoa did not achieve.

Fekitoa is one of the finds of the All Black season with one steady start at centre in the Championship and two strong finishes at second five when he was called on to replace the injured Ma'a Nonu.

A best tournament side picked on the competition's official website differed markedly from the Opta choice.

Whatever your view, several players' performances must have put them into the unanimous selection category.

Think Julian Savea and his mix of skill, pace, power, defence and invention down that left flank.

Brodie Retallick was superb at lock with his all-energy style for the All Blacks and his absence because of concussion for the Ellis Park test was a huge blow in what was an extremely physical contest.

Springbok No8 Duane Vermeulen was a similar talisman for the Boks with his confrontation, lineout work, ball carries and work at the breakdown shading Kieran Read in the tournament.

Then you get down to what some feel are the lineball decisions, like the comparisons between All Black captain McCaw and Wallaby leader Michael Hooper.

Stats reveal they made similar impacts at the breakdown and on defence. There is no doubt Hooper is a comer, a tremendous competitor and an athlete of great skill and courage.

Hooper also has to work on the back of a modest tight five and perhaps as a consequence of trying to slow the play down, he does get in strife with referees at breakdowns. McCaw is still more adept at picking his moments and dealing with referees and led his squad to another tournament title. Those moments make the difference and make him my choice in a fierce selection.

Did the remarkable return of Victor Matfield cloud some judgments about his contribution as he made both the Opta and Sanzar website sides? He brought some smarts and direction to the Springbok pack and was still imperious in the lineout. But so too was Sam Whitelock whose engine and workrate, combined with Retallick, gave the All Blacks a definite edge in general play.

Opta, which is based in Australia, picked James Slipper and Sekope Kepu as the best tournament props while the Sanzar site, also based in Australia, delivered some better objectivity in picking both of the Pumas props.

So what about this as a best tournament XV? Perhaps there is an abundance of All Blacks but they did win the series.

Gray's team
Israel Folau, Ben Smith, Conrad Smith, Jean de Villiers, Julian Savea, Handre Pollard, Aaron Smith, Duane Vermeulen, Richie McCaw, Jean-Manuel Leguizamon, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Ramiro Herrera, Dane Coles, Marcos Ayerza