Select your team of the decade (2010 to 2019) from full-back to tighthead prop
Tuesday 31 December 2019 17:38, UK
Another decade is almost over - and what a 10 years of rugby union we have enjoyed!
Three Rugby World Cups took us to New Zealand in 2011, as the Kiwis won on home soil, England in 2015 as the All Blacks ran supreme again and Japan in 2019 as the Springboks clinched the trophy.
We also enjoyed two compelling British & Irish Lions series, as the tourists won for the first time since 1997 when beating the Wallabies in Australia in 2013 and then drew with the world champion All Blacks in 2017.
Six Nations wise, we witnessed five Grand Slams during the decade as France (2010), Wales (2012, 2019), England (2016) and Ireland (2018) achieved superb clean-sweeps. Further Championship titles went to England (2011, 2017), Wales (2013) and Ireland (2014, 2015).
In 2012, Argentina joined the Tri-Nations to form the Rugby Championship, and during the 10 years the All Blacks picked up seven titles (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018), Australia two (2011, 2015) and the Springboks one (2019).
On the club scene, three clubs dominated the pinnacle of the European game: the Champions Cup, as Leinster (2011, 2012, 2018), Toulon (2013, 2014, 2015) and Saracens (2016, 2017, 2019) each won three each. Toulouse won the other in this decade, right at the beginning of it in 2010.
Elsewhere, Ireland beat New Zealand for the first time - both at home (2018) and elsewhere (Chicago, 2016) - England won a series in Australia for the first time (2016), Ireland won a three-Test tour in the southern hemisphere for the first time (also against the Wallabies, 2018) and Japan wowed the rugby world, beating the mighty Boks in 2015 and then making the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2019.
It has been an amazing 10 years - but who would make it into your team of the decade? Vote position-by-position below to select your XV...
