BILLY HARDING, THE BLACKHEATH, ENGLAND COUNTIES AND FORMER ROSSLYN PARK, LONDON SCOTTISH, ESHER, WASPS, AMPTHILL & COVENTRY HOOKER, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST...
1. Will Davis – I play with Will now at Blackheath but I also played against him a lot when he was at Ealing. A very modern prop in that he has got good hands, is very mobile and is good scrummaging-wise. A top bloke as well.
2. Sam Matavesi – I thought long and hard about this one because it’s my position but I’ve gone for Sam because we had a lot of good battles when I was at London Scottish and he was at Pirates. A hell of a player around the park.
3. Cam Zeiss – Played with him at Esher and England Counties. Very old-school tighthead who would run through a wall for you and would always have your back in the middle of winter.
4. James Tyas – The Coventry lock does a lot of analysis in his spare time alongside playing and that really shows in how he plays the game. Is really clued up on what other teams do and what his team has to do to win. He runs the lineout really well, I found it really easy throwing in when he was the lineout caller.
5. Tjiuee Uanivi – Played together at London Scottish, now at US Montauban in ProD2. Hits like a train but is also ultra mobile. It was very cool to see him captaining Namibia at the World Cup.
6. Akira Ioane – I had a cameo for Quins in a Maori All Blacks game and he was playing. I remember trying to hit him and it was one of the hardest things I have hit in my life.
7. Joe Bercis – One of Ampthill’s most-capped players. Went on an England Counties tour with him. An animal at seven; one of those body-on-the-line players. It is testament to how many games he has played when he plays the game the way he does. A top bloke, too.
8. Tom Baldwin – I played against him a few times and I am really happy to be playing with him now at Blackheath. An awesome No.8 who runs the lineout really well and hits hard. For a bloke that is 6’4/6’5 and 115kgs, he is quite nimble and always seems to find a gap. Reads the game really well.
9. Ed Hoadley – He used to be at Irish and then Scottish and is at Rams now. Not the flashiest or quickest 9 around but is a very good technical scrum-
