The best.

A number of outlets have released their World Team of the Year selections over the last couple of weeks, so we felt it was only right we had a go at naming one ourselves.

Most have been able to agree on a lot of the positions, with the likes of World Player of the Year Johnny Sexton, Wales centre Jonathan Davies and Peter O’Mahony making every team we’ve seen so far.

But one man who’s been absent is Jacob Stockdale. His incredible form for both club and country simply cannot be overlooked, which is why he starts on the left wing for us.

Eight Irish players in total make our team, with Bundee Aki, Cian Healy, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan and CJ Stander joining Stockdale, O’Mahony and Sexton.

RugbyLAD World Team of the Year 2018

15. Willie Le Roux (South Africa)
14. Rieko Ioane (New Zealand)
13. Jonathan Davies (Wales)
12. Bundee Aki (Ireland)
11. Jacob Stockdale (Ireland)
10. Johnny Sexton (Ireland)
9. Faf de Klerk (South Africa)

1. Cian Healy (Ireland)
2. Malcolm Marx (South Africa)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)
4. Brodie Retallick (New Zealand)
5. James Ryan (Ireland)
6. Peter O’Mahony (Ireland)
7. David Pocock (Australia)
8. CJ Stander (Ireland)