In anticipation of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand later this year I was commissioned recently to ‘select’ a World Rugby Wine XV and here is the result. The subs’ bench has yet to be filled and competition for those places is expected to be stiff, so get your suggestions in quickly…

1 Loosehead Prop
St Hallett, Old Block Shiraz 2005 14.5% Australia
Resisting the temptation to make quips about ‘a chip off’, we welcome the selection of Old Block in this key position where his experience and dogged application of the basic principles of scrummaging will prove invaluable. His contribution goes largely unnoticed by spectators but that doesn’t bother Old Block who contents himself with the high esteem in which every front row forward in the world holds him. It is worth noting that he was selected in preference to his Italian cousin Amarone who, it was felt, had bulked up too much in the gym, leaving him perfectly competent in the set pieces but unable to get from one end of the pitch to the other in any sort of acceptable time. Read More...

Tags: Rugby, Wine