On Thursday evening in front of a live studio audience, former England stars, Dan Cole, Chris Robshaw, Ben Youngs, as well as content creator \u2018Squidge\u2019, appeared on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast to pick their ultimate England XVs from the 21st century.<\/p>\n
One of the many stipulations was that they could not select players already in another team, with the live audience eventually choosing the winning team.<\/p>\n
So without further ado, here are the selected XVs:<\/p>\n
Ben Youngs<\/p>\n
England\u2019s record cap holder picked a powerful forward pack with each player more legendary than the last, while his backline consisted of best mate Freddie Burns to open up space for the dynamic outside backs. The safe hands of Mike Brown at full-back, and the second playmaker option of Henry Slade<\/a> gave good grounding to the side.<\/p>\n 15 Mike Brown<\/p>\n 14 Tommy Freeman<\/p>\n 13 Jonathan Joseph<\/p>\n 12 Henry Slade<\/p>\n 11 Jonny May<\/p>\n 10 Freddie Burns<\/p>\n 9 Ben Youngs<\/p>\n 8 Lawrence Dallaglio<\/p>\n 7 Jack Willis<\/p>\n 6 Lewis Moody<\/p>\n 5 Courtney Lawes<\/p>\n 4 Martin Johnson<\/p>\n 3 Kyle Sinckler<\/p>\n 2 Jamie George<\/p>\n 1 Ellis Genge<\/p>\n Investec Champions Cup statistics reveal \u2018surprising\u2019 change in the game as \u2018stand-out\u2019 star leads the \u2018new revolution\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Chris Robshaw<\/p>\n The former England captain selected a very mid-2000s side, consisting of the great World Cup-winning half-back duo of Matt Dawson and Jonny Wilkson, while also giving a nod to the 2007 finalists with picks such as Mathew Tait and Nick Easter. Former Harlequins<\/a> teammate Will Collier also got the nod in the front-row, giving a clear indication of his personal preference.<\/p>\n 15 Josh Lewsey<\/p>\n 14 Anthony Watson<\/p>\n 13 Mathew Tait<\/p>\n 12 Mike Catt<\/p>\n 11 David Strettle<\/p>\n 10 Jonny Wilkinson<\/p>\n 9 Matt Dawson<\/p>\n 8 Nick Easter<\/p>\n 7 Tom Rees<\/p>\n 6 Richard Hill<\/p>\n 5 George Kruis<\/p>\n 4 Maro Itoje<\/p>\n 3 Will Collier<\/p>\n 2 Tom Youngs<\/p>\n 1 Mako Vunipola<\/p>\n Red Roses team: Ellie Kildunne in latest positional switch as seven changes made for Grand Slam decider<\/a><\/p>\n Dan Cole<\/p>\n A few nods to the class of 2003, but the majority hailed from his own dynasty, including the powerful centre combination of Manu Tuilagi and Owen Farrell<\/a>. In fact, his whole side was built around power. Even his wingers, Jack Nowell and Ben Cohen, were powerful players. It\u2019s only his nimble half-back combination of George Ford and Danny Care that resembles anything other than pure power.<\/p>\n 15 Alex Goode<\/p>\n 14 Jack Nowell<\/p>\n 13 Manu Tuilagi<\/p>\n 12 Owen Farrell<\/p>\n 11 Ben Cohen<\/p>\n 10 George Ford<\/p>\n 9 Danny Care<\/p>\n 8 Billy Vunipola<\/p>\n 7 Neil Back<\/p>\n 6 Tom Croft<\/p>\n 5 Ollie Chessum<\/p>\n 4 Danny Grewcock<\/p>\n 3 Phil Vickery<\/p>\n 2 Steve Thompson<\/p>\n 1 Joe Marler<\/p>\n Thomas du Toit runs the rule over England\u2019s improving front-row as big things predicted for rising stars<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018Squidge\u2019<\/p>\n Including two of his panellists in his team, the YouTube creator picked a side with try-scoring credentials filled to the brim and caps to cover a thousand heads. The choice of Danny Cipriani<\/a> at fly-half would really open the game for his free-scoring backline, while his forward pack packed a nice balance.<\/p>\n 15 Jason Robinson<\/p>\n 14 Chris Ashton<\/p>\n 13 Elliot Daly<\/p>\n 12 Will Greenwood<\/p>\n 11 James Simpson-Daniel<\/p>\n 10 Danny Cipriani<\/p>\n 9 Alex Mitchell<\/p>\n 8 Tom Curry<\/p>\n 7 Sam Underhill<\/p>\n 6 Chris Robshaw<\/p>\n 5 Ben Kay<\/p>\n 4 Simon Shaw<\/p>\n 3 Dan Cole<\/p>\n 2 Dylan Hartley<\/p>\n 1 Jason Leonard<\/p>\n The winner: Ben Youngs<\/p>\n His side boasted an expansive backline and a truly world-class set of forwards.<\/p>\n Many former stars, such as Mike Tindall, Iain Balshaw, James Haskell, Charlie Hodgson and a plethora of others missed out.\u00a0<\/p>\n Let us know who deserves more recognition!<\/p>\n