{"id":191934,"date":"2025-06-17T14:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/191934\/"},"modified":"2025-06-17T14:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:55:09","slug":"all-blacks-and-springboks-legends-feature-in-all-time-european-dream-xv-planet-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/191934\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks and Springboks legends feature in all-time European Dream XV : Planet Rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fans were recently invited to vote for their ultimate Champions Cup and Challenge Cup Dream 15 over the past 30 years.\u00a0The selections were based on the players\u2019 achievements and performances in the two competitions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With plenty of talented stars to choose from, the selection was never going to be straightforward.<\/p>\n

Here is the team:<\/p>\n

Backs<\/strong><\/p>\n

15 Rob Kearney (Leinster) \u2013\u00a04 \u00d7 Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>Renowned for his impact during Leinster\u2019s golden era, he marshalled the backfield with expert consistency in both club and international colours. He was hugely successful in Leinster colours, also winning\u00a0the Pro 14 on six occasions and the Challenge Cup once.<\/p>\n

14 Doug Howlett (Munster) \u2013\u00a01 x Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>The legendary All Black winger made an instant mark in Europe, winning the Champions Cup in 2008 before securing the Celtic League twice, once in 2009 and again in 2011.<\/p>\n

13 Brian O\u2019Driscoll (Leinster) \u2013\u00a03 \u00d7 Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>Ireland\u2019s record try-scorer, 4 x Celtic League winner, 1 x Challenge Cup winner, and often regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.<\/p>\n

12 Yannick Jauzion (Stade Toulousain) \u2013\u00a03 \u00d7 Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>A giant of a centre, standing at 6 ft 4 in, in Toulouse\u2019s midfield during their golden years. Also, a mainstay in a formidable France starting XV for over ten years.<\/p>\n

11 Bryan Habana (RC Toulon) \u2013\u00a02 \u00d7 Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>2007 Rugby World Cup winner and one of the game\u2019s greatest ever finishers. In 2015, he equalled Jonah Lomu\u2019s record of 15 tries in World Cups.<\/p>\n

Half Backs<\/p>\n

10 Jonny Wilkinson (RC Toulon) \u2013\u00a02 \u00d7 Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>England\u2019s 2003 World Cup hero, known for his composure and kicking class. Despite being well into his 30s, his time with Toulon saw the England legend rejuvenated, playing some of his very best rugby.<\/p>\n

9 Antoine Dupont (Stade Toulousain) \u2013\u00a02 \u00d7 Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>2\u00d7 European Player of the Year, widely regarded as one of the finest scrum-halves ever, and often considered the current greatest player in the world. His performance against Leinster in the 2024 Champions Cup final has gone down as one of the greatest ever individual performances.<\/p>\n

Premiership Team of the Season: David Campese hails \u2018exquisite\u2019 Finn Russell as Springboks \u2018machine\u2019 powers Bath to the title<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Forwards<\/p>\n

8 Gr\u00e9gory Alldritt (Stade Rochelais) \u2013\u00a02 x Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>He won his titles in back-to-back years with wins over Leinster. An important part of the French international pack, he\u2019s only just reaching his peak now.<\/p>\n

7 Josh van der Flier (Leinster) \u2013\u00a01 \u00d7 Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>The talented flanker has found himself on the losing side of most finals, and didn\u2019t play in the 2018 final, which Leinster won. But his quality was appreciated in the grander scheme when he was awarded the European Player of the Year in 2022.<\/p>\n

6 Thierry Dusautoir (Biarritz\/Stade Toulousain) \u2013\u00a01 x Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>His 2010 victory with Toulouse brought a sense of relief after coming up short in the final on two occasions prior. Famed for his work rate and leadership, he will forever be remembered for his World Cup final performance against New Zealand.<\/p>\n

5 Paul O\u2019Connell (Munster) \u2013 2 \u00d7 Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>Now a leader off the field, he was once a towering figure in Munster and Ireland\u2019s colours on the field. A former British and Irish Lion, O\u2019Connell struck an imposing figure that often cut into the psyche of the opposition.<\/p>\n

4 Bakkies Botha (RC Toulon) \u2013\u00a03 \u00d7 Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>Part of the dominant Toulon side of the early 2010s, this Bok legend often used his sheer power and aggression to give his side the upper hand.<\/p>\n

3 Tadhg Furlong (Leinster) \u2013\u00a01 x Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>Surprisingly winning the top European trophy just once, Furlong is known as one of the modern tighthead greats. A 3 times Lions tourist with multiple international and club accolades to his name, Furlong follows a long list of great Irish front rowers.<\/p>\n

2 Keith Wood (Munster\/Harlequins) \u2013\u00a0Champions Cup finalist and Challenge Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>The only man on this list not to win a Champions Cup. He was, however, once named the World Player of the Year and won the Challenge Cup with Harlequins, where he spent much of his career.<\/p>\n

1 Cian Healy (Leinster) \u2013\u00a04 \u00d7 Champions Cup winner:\u00a0<\/strong>Healy was a cornerstone of Leinster\u2019s dominant scrum for over a decade. Only recently retired at the age of 37 after an incredible shift at the highest level.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0\u2018Can\u2019t imagine not being involved\u2019 \u2013 Owen Farrell reveals future plans and addresses potential B&I Lions call-up<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fans were recently invited to vote for their ultimate Champions Cup and Challenge Cup Dream 15 over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[5314,78503,4307,5313,5013,2383,12074,225,522,678,4306,12760,12,78502,4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-191934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-antoine-dupont","9":"tag-bakkies-botha","10":"tag-brian-o","11":"tag-british-and-irish-lions","12":"tag-challenge-cup","13":"tag-champions-cup","14":"tag-harlequins","15":"tag-home-page","16":"tag-international","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-leinster","19":"tag-munster","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-pro-14","22":"tag-rugby","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-uk","25":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114699286851405981","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}