Best of the best of the World Cup’s plucky underdogs

NOBODY really remembers the minnows, but this column loves them and wants to acknowledge their splendid efforts. Viewed by most as cannon fodder for the great and good but hugely brave and talented in their own right, they fight ridiculous odds, often with a smile.

Below I offer you my minnows all-star selection from the five teams who truly qualify for minnow status – Russia, Canada, Uruguay, USA and Namibia. Between them they managed just one win, but Uruguay’s triumph over Fiji stirred the soul and certainly indicates a huge improvement on their part.

My team will, of course, be captained by the voluble Vasily Artemyev and contains at least three players who I would expect to be snatched up by a big club sooner rather than later – the Uruguay duo of scrum-half Santiago Arata and hooker German Kessler, and Russia’s kick boxer-comeflanker Tagir Gadzhiev.

Namibia flanker Wian Conradie looks a highclass operator and considering Kirill Gotovtsev has spent all his sporting career thus far representing Russia at the bobsleigh and wresting, he performed mightily at tighthead prop. He’s just the sort of player who usually interests Steve Diamond at Sale. WORLD CUP MINNOWS XV

15. Vasily Artemyev (Russia)

14. DTH van der Merwe (Canada)

13. Dmitry Gerasimov (Russia)

12. Andrés Vilaseca (Uruguay)

11. Blaine Scully (USA)

10. Felipe Berchesi (Uruguay)

9. Santiago Arata (Uruguay)

1. Kirill Gotovtsev (Russia)

2. German Kessler (Uruguay)

3. Valery Morozov (Russia)

4. Andrei Ostrikov (Russia)

5. Ignacio Dotti (Uruguay)

6. Tagir Gadzhiev (Russia)

7. Wian Conradie (Namibia)

8. Tyler Ardron (Canada)