Ranking the 5 Best Back Rows in World Rugby Right Now
The back row has become the most important unit on the field in modern rugby union.
Defensively, they are the men who commonly end up on top of the tackle count and are the players responsible for winning back possession at the tackle area.
Many of them play a pivotal role in their teams' lineout operations and are additionally expected to be able to act as link men between forwards and backs, popping up out wide to support wings and centres.
They must be the men who can do it all, and the very best of them can determine their side's success or failure with their performances.
These trios came into sharp focus during the 2015 Rugby World Cup, with the composition of England's back row heavily criticised for its lack of a specialist ball winner.
In other sides, more than one such man was deployed, and elsewhere teams looked to their key back row player as the driving force for their entire efforts—think Georgia's Mamuka Gorgodze or Japan's Michael Leitch, totems both.
A world-class, back-row unit will comprise of players who can tick a multitude of boxes, and it is with this in mind, we give you our top five trios in the world today.
5. Toulon
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The richest club side in the world can boast a roster of talent stronger than any of the Six Nations sides, so they get in ahead of the Irish and Welsh first-choice Test trios.
Last weekend, against Leinster, they fielded Georgian captain Mamuka Gorgodze at blindside, Steffon Armitage at No. 7 and Springbok No. 8 Duane Vermeulen in between them.
If it takes their fancy, they can rest some of those players and call upon Argentina's Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and South Africa's Juan Smith or insert Samu Manoa into that unit, if not deploying the ex-Northampton man as a lock.
Vermeulen had a strong World Cup even if he was short of his very best after making a speedy recovery from neck surgery. In the two years prior to 2015, he has had a nip-and-tuck battle with Kieran Read for the title of best No. 8 in the business.
Gorgodze's stock rose inexorably after a superb World Cup in which he led his side magnificently, scoring the key try in their win over Tonga and scooping man of the match in Georgia's defeat to New Zealand.
Armitage's exclusion from the England squad was a constant topic of debate during Stuart Lancaster's reign and may well continue to plague Eddie Jones, who has fallen into lockstep with the RFU's existing policy not to select overseas-based Englishmen.
That will certainly be the case if he continues to lead the Top 14 in turnovers and deliver performances like last weekend's against Leinster.
4. Argentina
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The Pumas reached the last four of a World Cup for the second time in the last three tournaments and had their high-calibre back row to thank for it.
Led by the experienced Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe with the youthful Pablo Matera and destructive force of Leonaro Senatore, this trio combined smarts over the ball with the ability to link with their jet-fuelled backs in open play.
This combination tore a hole through their pool opponents in the World Cup and did exactly the same to Ireland in their Cardiff quarter-final.
Lobbe, especially, pulled all the tricks out of the bag. His pick-up off his laces and arcing pass out wide to create an overlap for the Pumas' first try was mesmerising.
3. South Africa
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South Africa do muscle better than anyone else, and this is no more in clear view than their back row, where Schalk Burger, Francois Louw and Duane Vermeulen formed a powerful unit that took them to the semi-finals of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
We saw their uncompromising defence and relentless ball-carrying to good effect in key games against Samoa and Scotland, but there was also the odd dash of artistry, such as Vermeulen's deft flick to scrum-half Fourie du Preez for the try that dumped Wales out.
Given England's refusal to pick players from outside the Premiership, it's perhaps ironic that the Boks' first-choice trio houses a player from Bath and now a man playing for Toulon, too.
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2. Australia
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One of the most talked-about aspects of the last Rugby World Cup was the effectiveness of Australia's unorthodox deployment of two natural No. 7s.
It had looked, before the tournament, as though coach Michael Cheika was going to have to make a choice between Michael Hooper and David Pocock to fill the openside role.
But during the Rugby Championship that preceded the big show in England, Cheika played them both, and Australia won the tournament. Alongside the industrious Scott Fardy, Pocock assumed the No. 8 jersey with Hooper staying put at No. 7.
The results were astonishing as they took England, Wales and Argentina to the cleaners with their low-slung physiques and high work rate making them almost unplayable over the ball.
It will be telling next summer when England head Down Under just how much re-structuring Eddie Jones will have done to counter the threat.
1. New Zealand
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Richie McCaw may have left the stage, but his understudy Sam Cane has been learning from the best for years and is ready to assume the No. 7 All Black jersey.
The 23-year-old already has 31 caps and looks destined to take on McCaw's mantle.
Alongside him, Kieran Read is likely to take over the captaincy in McCaw's absence, and in the No. 6 jersey, they have Jerome Kaino, who could easily have walked off with the player of the tournament award from the last World Cup.
These three are supported by Liam Messam, who was first choice ahead of Kaino in 2013 and 2014, and Victor Vito, with the New Zealand production line certain to churn out more contenders for places in the squad.
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