To get in the festive spirit and with some readers possibly wanting a quick breather from the day, Planet Rugby decided to put together its Christmas XV.
It was an interesting selection, to say the least, but after a long process, we have settled on our side for the match at Kings-holm with Warren Garland in charge and of course Joy Neville with the whistle.
Merry Christmas from our team of writers!
15 Baltazar Amaya
We were tempted to go for Wes Goose-n but felt that was reaching a touch and then, thankfully, received a gift of a player from one of our writers who suggested Uruguay star Baltazar Amaya. The Argentina-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 back played at the 2023 Rugby World Cup for Uruguay and also turned out at the Olympic Games at Sevens level.
14 Gabriel Ibitoye
The in-form Bristol Bears flyer has been in outstanding form this Premiership season and takes our first wing place. He gets the shirt over Bath flyer Regan Grace.
13 Henry Slade
Some hard calls on Oscar Beard and Will Joseph but we honour the band that brought us ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ as the Exeter Chiefs and England star is selected.
12 D’Angelo Leuila
Keeping with the angel theme from our number 14 decision, we opted for Samoa international and former Moana Pasifika centre D’Angelo Leuila as our inside centre.
11 Ollie Sleigh-tholme
What a prosperous year it has been for the Saint. After helping Northampton to Premiership glory he went on to wrap up an England place, scoring tries along the way.
10 Orlando Bailey-s
Speaking of Saints it was a tough call to leave out Argentina veteran Nicolas Sanchez but ’tis the season for a Baileys, isn’t it? Bath’s Orlando Bailey wears the 10 jersey.
9 Nic White
The Bing Crosby classic of dreaming of a white Christmas – later covered by Michael Bublé – will have been heard more than once over this festive period and we have picked Wallabies scrum-half Nic White over Scotland’s Ben, despite a late after-dinner and evening push from Harlequins’ Will Port-er and Taunton’s Joe Snow.
8 Jeandré Rudolph
Rumour has it he can run all night and is outstanding at the Blitzen defence. Cheetahs number eight Jeandré Rudolph was a shoo-in for this shirt for obvious reasons.
7 Tom ‘turkey’ Curry
The customary Boxing Day curry led to a straight shoot-out between Sale Sharks and England brothers, Ben and Tom, but alliteration wins the day. Always delicious.
6 Miracle Fai’ilagi
The signing of Samoa international back-row Miracle Fai’ilagi by Moana Pasifika was heralded as a “beautiful moment” in 2022 and he was a must-pick in our line-up. The Willis brothers were also in the mix but that’s all dependent on whether you regard Die Hard to be an X-mas movie – it is [Editor’s note].
5 Emmanuel Meafou
‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ Meafou into our side. The France man mountain has been huge this season and edges Adam Beard, Sam Slade and David Ribba(o)ns here.
4 Nick Frost
There were good shouts for Angel Bozal and Christ Tshiunza but we felt one of the Frosts playing rugby today had to get a spot. The Wallaby lock is in our engine room.
3 Clara Joyeaux ‘Noel’
Locking down the tighthead side of the scrum simply had to be Clara Joyeaux, just too fitting to ignore. Owen Franks-incense and Dan Cole were obvious runners-up.
2 Brodie McAlister
Close enough to the infamous McCallister family from that Christmas film epic, Home Alone. Crusaders hooker Brodie McAlister pips Dan Frost to our hooker spot.
1 Abraham ‘North’ Pole
Wallabies star Angus Bell came close but how could we ignore Moana Pasifika prop Abraham Pole, who drops in from a height to complete our festive XV this year.
