606 Aviva Premiership Dream Team - Wingers

Penultimate poll.

Allen and Tomkins lead the way in the vote for Centres (just ahead of my preferred combo of 36/Masi). https://www.606v2.com/t44360-606-aviva-premiership-dream-team-the-centres

Freddie burns is leading the race to partner Danny Care at half back, which moves us onto the wingers. Can we see past the joint elading try scorers Wade & Varndell? Well lets look at the contenders, as usual in order of where their clubs finished in the league.

David Strettle 16 starts (2rep); 8 tries, 4 try assists (ta)
Unlucky in the past with injuries, the Yorkshire lad is often castigated for not posing enough of a threat to the goal line. A rich vein of form during the spring has helped him register more tries than usual. An excellent broken field runner, at times his headless chicken running style can confuse team mates as much as the opposition. He seems to have fitted in well to the Sarries structure this season and do not be surprised if he gains caps in the summer ahead of more fancied wingers. Has outshone Chris Ashton - who had a better club season than he is given credit for, but not included in this poll.

Niall Morris 14 starts (1rep); 4 tries, 3ta & Adam Thompstone 15 starts (1rep); 7 tries
Whilst new boy Thompstone has been getting the plaudits, Morris has probably been Leicester's best winger this season. Able to cover full back as well as wing, he has real pace and quick feet. Stronger than he looks he often makes ground when you least expect it and has created opportunities for others. Thompstone arrived at Welford Rd rather unheralded with many expecting him to be a squad filler. Big and powerful, has a decent turn of pace but not lightening quick. Scored a hat-trick on his debut and is joint top of the AP try scorers for Tigers (with penalty tries). Pressure will intensify on both these guys next season if Miles Benjamin is able to make a full recovery from a serious neck injury.

Ugo Monye 16 starts (1rep); 6 tries, 1ta & Tom Williams 18 starts; 6 tries, 2ta
With ugo Monye you get exactly what it says on the tin. He is big, strong and quick. There is very little trickery, he will either try and arc round you or run over you. And at this level he is damned effective. Sort of Winger every club could do with. Defence is usually pretty solid too. Tom Williams, it pains me to say, has been in excellent form this season. He reads the game really well, knowing when to come off his wing and track the potential offloads.

Jamie Elliot 15 starts; 10 tries
A squat winger with good pace, young elliot (1 day too old for the JWC) is an out and out finisher. For now does not get involved around fthe park much, but give him a sniff of the line and he gets there. A good outside break and change of pace can leave cover defenders grasping for air while Elliot scores the sort of try in the corner that usually culminates with a defender driving a knee into the scorer's spine. A very good prospect. (Also at Saints Ken Pisi has flattered to deceive)

Jonny May 13 starts; 8 tries, 1ta
You have to love watching this guy play. Crazy, frenetic but dazzlingly effective. Injury limited his gametime thgis season, but still plenty of time and tries to force his way on to the England tour.He is an infectious and bubbly player that persuades people to pay money to watch the sport. Love him. On the other wing Sharples has been really subdued, looking like a man short on confidence. Stuart Lancaster has a serious part to play in this.

Matt Jess 21 starts; 5 tries, 4ta & Jack Nowell 11 starts; 2t
Another outstanding season for Matt Jess. If he were at a high profile club he would get a lot more attention. Sharp pace, with a good eye for space he creates as well as scores. Probably needs more tries to gain an international call-up, but easily good enough to have a bash. People enthuse about Slade and Cowan-Dickie, but Jack Nowell is the real rising start at Exeter. The try stats are misleading, just watch the guy play and you will see very quickly just how good he will be.

Tom Biggs 18 starts (1rep); 4 tries, 3ta
I have to confess that I find the clamour from some for Biggs to be capped mildly ridiculous. He is a vey busy and vey effective player at club level, but well short of international class. This poll is about the AP though and Biggs has been the stand out back for Bath across the season. A strong season and worthy contender for this poll. Bath have used a fair few players opposite Biggs, but with Agulla playing centre as well as wing none have played enough matches or made enough impact to make the poll.

Tom Varndell 20 starts; 13tries, 2ta & Christian Wade 20 starts; 13tries, 3ta
Well these two have to be the front runners for this poll. They have both had excellent seasons and seem to work well together. Both come off their wings and can often be seen supporting the other. While Varndell has the higher top speed and often seems to be cruising until you see the players struggling in his wake, Wade has the instant acceleration that can cause even the best defences major issues. His top speed is still pretty good, but the skill he has to stand up a defender then leave him for dead in even confined spaces is magnificent. Sadly Varndell's England chance has probably come and gone, but hopefully Wade can have a long international career. Apparently they cannot defend (not strictly true), I say so what. They terrify opposition.

Marland Yarde 18 starts; 3 tries, 2ta
I accept that the primary function of a winger is to score tries and thus understand some of the confusion (and anger at times) expressed about Yarde's selection for England's summer tour. However sometimes we need to look a little deeper into a players performances. For me Yarde has been the standout player for LI every time I have seen them play, an impression supported by how many defenders he has beaten across the entire season - more than any other winger in the league. He is really quick, strong, works hard and defends well. He is just the sort of player Stuart Lancaster likes. If he had been at Tigers, with the possession they get and the way they look to use there Wingers off Flood's shoulder, his try count could well have threatened Varndell and Wades. I truly believe he will be a star. Topsy Ojo has looked rather lacklustre by comparison.

Mark Cueto 19 starts; 5 tries, 4ta
In a struggling team, the veteran has had a fine season and become the leading try scorer in premiership history, finally overhauling hi sold friend Steve Hanley. With tom Varndell breathing hot on his collar he is unlikely to keep the record as long as Hanley did, but still some achievement. Very much an allrounder, he will not win thi spoll, but perhaps deserves a Lifetime Achievement award.

Josh Drauniniu 12 starts (3rep); 5 tries, 3ta
chiefs fans will know all about the former Navy and England 7s man, as he ran in tries galore for them In the Champioship. An abortive effort to crack the premiership at Quins, saw him return to the sevens scene, before signing for Worcester. The man from Fiji has used his devastating sidestep to great effect - in much less gam,etime he has beaten only 1 defender less than christian Wade and is 3rd among wingers in this stat. 5 tries and 3 try assists in a fairly negative Worcester team is good going.

Do Exeter just have a conveyor belt of young talent now...they're doing a superb job of attracting and bringing talent players through...

Anyway...Varndell and Wade...easy

GeordieFalcon wrote:Do Exeter just have a conveyor belt of young talent now...they're doing a superb job of attracting and bringing talent players through...

Anyway...Varndell and Wade...easy

Have you ticked the wrong boxes?

May and Wade for me although haven't seen much of Yarde tbh. It's these 2 I would love to see on the wings for England going into Autumn.

No Varndell and Wade have been the standouts for me...i was merely commenting on the Op's mention of Exeters youngsters...

GeordieFalcon wrote:

No Varndell and Wade have been the standouts for me...i was merely commenting on the Op's mention of Exeters youngsters...

Ok, just when I made the comment Varndell had just one vote (mine) while Wade had 2 (mina and someone else) and Yarde had one.

Yarde for what he has done in a struggling side and Wade for his sheer x-factor would be my picks. I also really like Morris and what he adds to the Leicester side - a really intelligent and underrated player.

No 7&1/2 wrote:May and Wade for me although haven't seen much of Yarde tbh. It's these 2 I would love to see on the wings for England going into Autumn.

This.

May has probably been the form winger since his return from injury. Like Wade, he has electric pace AND a formidable step, (especially for someone so lanky). To have players that have the ability to actually create tries would give England so much more space as to date, opposing teams can defend narrowly as they feel they have little to fear from the likes of Ashton, Brown and Goode. In fact, I think that Wade really needs to be covered by 2 players such is his pace and talent. I so hope they take it to the international stage.

Went for Wade and Varndell, they seem to work really well as a pair too.

I'd like England to find a pair of wingers that can get together and hunt as a pair.

Spot on assessment of Marland Yarde LT, he's been excellent for us this season and in a better side would score lots of tries. I've gone for him and Wade.

Wade and May. Wade was the best winger in the first half of the season and May was best in the second half. Varndell has been solid throughout and his tries make him a contender but I feel the other 2 are better all round players and have had more impressive seasons. I also think if May had been fit all year he would have been top scorer, removing that argument for Varndell. May has the best strike rate (8/13 - would have been 9/13 if not for the trip v Worc). If you also look at who May scored his tries against then its very impressive, posted the list on a thread a few weeks ago, off the top of my head I think 5 of his tries were against top 4 teams, the only one he failed to score against being Leicester because he didn't play against them.

Mention also for Biggs. Really like him as a player, he's been great all year and I'm glad people are talking about him in the international frame. Think you are harsh on him LT, he'd do a fine job if called up but agree he should be below May, Wade, Sharples and Ashton (but ahead of Brown!) for the 2 Wong spots.

May pushes it a tiny bit, but not far at all to go for Varndell and most of all Wade

Wade definitely for one spot, but the other could go to one of a number of players and really highlights the depth of quality wingers at present.

Varndell is right up there and will no doubt shortly overtake Cueto as record ever Jeff scorer; May has been outstanding since his return and would have been a shoe in with Wade if fit all season; Elliott has had his breakthrough season and has gone largely unnoticed for his good scoring rate; Jess is part of that consistent backline at Chiefs (you do have to ask what would happen if they were to have a few injuries in that line up?); Biggs is one of a small handful of genuine left wingers and has been unlucky not to go on tour and I'd have him ahead of Strettle every day of the week; finally Yarde has been excellent in a mis-firing side.

My club bias and the fact he probably is the better player would make me want to choose May. But I've been keen to select people on reflection over the whole season. May wasn't quite there before his injury, whereas Varndell has been consistent throughout the year. So I'd go with Varndell my a whisker from May.

Not gonna vote cos I haven't seen enough premiership rugby to make a decision. However I wanted to make a comment about Tom Williams.
Any time I have seen him this season he looks like a fantastic footballer.
Decent pace, very solid defence. His all round game looks so sharp. When he comes in to the line from the blindside it's not just as a bosh merchant. He may well break the line but is just as likely to find a team mate in space with a perfect pass.
I think he could be a very effective 13 and the highest compliment I could give him is that he reminds me very much of Tommy Bowe.

Easy for me

Wade and Yarde

Wade and Varndell for me. The two best and deadliest wings out there.

Shout out to Williams and Monye for their work though, Williams with his tracking of the ball and intelligent play that has lead to him scoring key tries at critical times to win games and Monye for his almost freakish restart work. I don't know how long he trains for but watching him beat locks and full backs time after time after time in a game is awesome! A very underrated skill that I don't think any of these other wings have either.

Wade and Yarde. Hard working, explosive and are able to do more than stand on the wing and wait for the chance to run down the touchline.

Wade / Varndell
20 Matches 20
13 Tries 13
65 Points 65
3 Try assist 2
19 Kicks From Hand 15
73 Passes 56
120 Carries 114
1307 Metres carried 1361
25 Clean breaks 24
14 Offloads 13
48 Defenders beaten 33
63 Tackles 38
10 Missed tackles 9

Yarde / Strettle
19 Matches 18
3 Tries 8
15 Points 40
2 Try assist 4
36 Kicks From Hand 18
43 Passes 45
141 Carries 122
1100 Metres carried 1047
22 Clean breaks 19
14 Offloads 14
50 Defenders beaten 30
97 Tackles 63
13 Missed tackles 13

Elliot / May
16 Matches 13
10 Tries 8
50 Points 40
0 Try assist 1
15 Kicks From Hand 19
23 Passes 72
101 Carries 105
692 Metres carried 803
10 Clean breaks 14
3 Offloads 5
15 Defenders beaten 33
45 Tackles 42
12 Missed tackles 10

Morris / Thompstone
16 Matches 16
5 Tries 7
25 Points 35
3 Try assist 0
30 Kicks From Hand 6
38 Passes 21
89 Carries 76
766 Metres carried 525
17 Clean breaks 9
9 Offloads 3
18 Defenders beaten 18
42 Tackles 51
5 Missed tackles 10

Monye / Williams
18 Matches 19
6 Tries 6
30 Points 30
1 Try assist 2
25 Kicks From Hand 23
48 Passes 110
141 Carries 127
813 Metres carried 634
10 Clean breaks 14
21 Offloads 31
22 Defenders beaten 25
72 Tackles 52
11 Missed tackles 12

Nowell / Drauniniu
11 Matches 15
2 Tries 5
10 Points 25
0 Try assist 1
11 Kicks From Hand 4
14 Passes 41
106 Carries 110
800 Metres carried 900
10 Clean breaks 21
4 Offloads 14
39 Defenders beaten 47
73 Tackles 43
6 Missed tackles 16

Biggs / Cueto
19 Matches 20
4 Tries 5
20 Points 25
3 Try assist 4
17 Kicks From Hand 67
8 Passes 73
86 Carries 159
606 Metres carried 832
8 Clean breaks 10
5 Offloads 11
24 Defenders beaten 26
44 Tackles 67
12 Missed tackles 15

Jess / Ashton
21 Matches 13
5 Tries 6
25 Points 30
4 Try assist 1
22 Kicks From Hand 27
64 Passes 44
167 Carries 80
1034 Metres carried 570
17 Clean breaks 15
6 Offloads 7
20 Defenders beaten 17
93 Tackles 35
14 Missed tackles 8