Fergburger lays the rule over international opensides.

Richie McCaw will be gutted.

“Ireland is not a country known for producing a steady stream of natural 7s, in the manner of Wales [Richie Collins, Martyn Williams, Sam Warburton], Australia [George Smith, Phil Waugh, David Pocock] or New Zealand [Michael Jones, Josh Kronfeld, Richie McCaw] …

However, Ireland do not have access to anyone of the calibre of Pocock, McCaw or the world’s finest, Heinrich Brussow, when it comes to an out-and-out scavenging openside.”

Hmmm. The Mole is pretty sure that he saw Brussow being played off the park by Sam Warburton a couple of weeks ago. The little fellah had a great 2009, but before August’s Tri-Nations he hadn’t played a minute of international rugby in twenty months … during which interval McCaw picked up two IRB International Player of the Year Awards in a row, with Pocock picking up a nomination for the same award last year.

Obviously, everybody is entitled to their opinion, and the Mole isn’t disputing that Brussow is a fine openside in his own right … how anybody can make a case for him as ‘the world’s finest’ is beyond me, though.