How would these bunch of fancy dan footballers do against New Zealand?
One of our favourite Frenchmen David Ginola revealed today that he turned down the chance to join Top 14 rugby side Stade Francais after he retired from football in 2002.
The graceful and elegant former Newcastle winger, who was launching Heineken’s Ultimate Player enterprise, says he was approached by his friend Christophe Dominici, who was playing for Stade; but Ginola thought better of the offer: “I would have been the target of most of the players, switching from football, and I would have been in the hospital every day!”
That got us thinking… Which footballers could actually make the crossover to rugby and do a decent job?
Here’s what JOE’s come up with…
Front row
1. Julian Dicks – The former West Ham left-back was fearless for the Hammers back in the day. A rather large frame but boy could he move over the ground.
2. Gary Medel – The Cardiff City midfielder hasn’t been much good at football this season so maybe he should switch. We imagine Gary is well versed in the dark arts.
3. Carlos Puyol – Everything is 100% with this guy, imagine the intensity he’d bring to scrum time and the breakdown, a natural choice.
Second row
4. Didier Drogba – This is guy big and a handful for any defender, his size and leap make him a good option in the second row.
5. Nicola Zigic – This guy is bigger… The Devon Toner type who you’d imagine would make a nuisance of himself during line outs.
Back row
6. Neil Ruddock – We had to include Razor. If he could stay fit, he’d be unstoppable.
7. Yaya Toure – This guy’s size and mobility would make him a real asset in the back row, we genuinely think he’d have a chance.
8. Emmanuel Frimpong – Just for the controversy. He’s a stocky little fella, he’d be well able to look after himself.
Half backs
9. Claude Makelele – We can’t think of a better player to dictate the tempo, he’d be our Peter Stringer.
10. Wayne Rooney – The size to look after himself and he’s one of the sweetest strikers of a football on the planet.
Backline
11. Gareth Bale – He’s built like a house and he has pace to burn, he has a decent left foot too so he’d add to the tactical options.
12. Hulk – The Brazilian would bring a real toughness to the back line. Imagine the crash ball possibilities…
13. Cristiano Ronaldo – We know he can’t do step-overs but his footwork and raw speed would make him a very dangerous outside centre.
14. Antonio Valencia – Speed, speed and more speed.
15. Nemanja Matic – A huge man with a fantastic left foot, reminds us of Rob Kearney. He seems to have a cool head as well, he could certainly do a job.
JOE’s pretty happy with that team; but tell us who we shouldn’t have left out, did we miss any obvious players?
