You can autopick for me. Give me a rugby player who I can groom into a power forward!
Rugby union
Jordan Larmour (3) (Leinster & Ireland)
As the commentator Nick Mullins put it recently, “Forget phone-boxes, he could beat people in a mobile-phone case.” Still only 21, he is one of those players who quickens the pulse whenever he gets the ball. He has had to be patient for both club and country but he is now a nailed-on starter for
Leinster and is getting there with Ireland. His emergence has brought the best out of Rob Kearney so Larmour only has two Ireland starts to his name, but it is easy to see him lighting up next year’s World Cup, producing the kind of performances he did against Italy last autumn, running in a hat-trick including one sensational try. Joe Schmidt can be conservative when it comes to introducing new players and he will not be seduced by the footwork if the rest of Larmour’s game – the less flashy parts – are not up to it. But there is every reason to believe it will be next year, both during the Six Nations as Ireland look to defend the title, and at the World Cup, where he can run amok on the fast pitches in Japan.
Gerard Meagher
Jordan Larmour in action for Leinster. Photograph: Sheridan/INPHO/Rex/Shutterstock