Based on suggestions a shortlist of names for each position was posted daily and saw 160,000 votes being cast. The final 15 is below and would certainly be equipped to compete on the world stage.

2011 RUGBY WORLD CUP DREAM TEAM:

15 - Israel Dagg (New Zealand)

14 - Cory Jane (New Zealand)

13 – Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)

Ireland captain O’Driscoll took nearly 50% of the votes to make the Dream Team. A consistent performer for Ireland, O’Driscoll added to his impressive tally of international tries with a well-taken try in the must win pool match against Italy.

12 - Jamie Roberts (Wales)

11 - Richard Kahui (New Zealand)

10 – Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)

The second Irish player to make the Dream Team, O’Gara earned his place after scoring 44 points during the tournament. His cool head and calmness under pressure make him a valuable addition to the side.

9 - Mike Phillips (Wales)

1 - Jean-Baptiste Poux (France)

2 - Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)

3 - Owen Franks (New Zealand)

4 - Brad Thorn (New Zealand)

5 – Paul O’Connell (Ireland)

Voted man-of-the-match in Ireland’s first match of the 2011 Rugby World Cup against the USA, O’Connell was the overwhelming favourite for the number 5 shirt in the Dream Team. Appearing in his third World Cup tournament, O’Connell was the heartbeat of the Irish side in their run to the quarter-finals.

6 - Thierry Dusautoir (France)

7 - Richie McCaw (New Zealand)

8 - Imanol Harinordoquy (France)

Ireland captain, Brian O’Driscoll said the entire squad backed the decision:

“The welcome that we received at every turn during the tournament from the local communities, who really embraced us everywhere we went, was incredible.

“The tournament itself, not only from our perspective, was a fantastic showpiece and run with such commitment and enthusiasm by the people of New Zealand, it was a credit to the entire nation.

“My only regret was that we were not able to stay in the tournament for longer to give our supporters more to shout about and also allow us to continue to soak up the amazing atmosphere that was continuing to build around the tournament.

“Members of the squad had contact with many people who were affected by the Christchurch earthquake and it was heartbreaking to see the pictures of the devastation there.

“The players all felt that they wanted to make some sort of gesture to show our appreciation for the support given to us and that the fines built up during the tournament would be best served by helping the people and rugby community in Christchurch.”

The IRFU has also made a contribution.

IRB WORLD RANKINGS (as of Monday, October 24):

Last week’s positions in brackets -

1(1) NEW ZEALAND 91.43 rating points
2(2) AUSTRALIA 87.42
3(3) FRANCE 84.70
4(4) SOUTH AFRICA 84.34
5(5) ENGLAND 81.58
6(7) IRELAND 80.65
7(8) ARGENTINA 80.28
8(6) WALES 80.18
9(9) TONGA 76.63
10(10) SCOTLAND 76.20
11(11) SAMOA 75.81
12(12) ITALY 73.99
13(13) CANADA 72.92
14(14) GEORGIA 71.09
15(15) JAPAN 70.45
16(16) FIJI 68.78
17(17) USA 65.63
18(18) ROMANIA 63.98
19(19) NAMIBIA 61.24
20(20) PORTUGAL 60.67

O’Brien who won’t turn 25 until February came into the tournament as ERC European Player of the Year and he clearly delivered on his reputation playing in four of the five games and scoring his second Test try against Russia.

A back row combination we hope to see time and time again was also formed with Ferris and Heaslip and the New Zealanders were particularly impressed with his strong carries and tough-tackling.

The tournament website also picked out Israel Dagg and Jerome Kaino for their efforts in claiming the title, Jamie Roberts for his performances and some deserved recognition for the Namibia caption Jacques Burger.

Wales owe their win to their defence who, for 60 minutes took a battering and then returned two huge blows to ensure they were in the semifinal for the first time since 1987. Ireland managed enough ball to look dangerous in attack, but lacked options and finishing.

Shane Williams extended his Welsh record try tally to 56 in the third minute after Wales went through the phases to see Roberts take a high ball going forward before Halfpenny put Williams over in the right corner. Video ref  Giulio de Santis confirmed the score and Priestland converted from the wide angle.

Welsh indiscipline and pressure from Ireland denied Wales the chance to capitalise on this dream start. Faletau went over the top of the ruck, North didn’t roll away from a tackle and Lydiate was caught offside at the breakdown. With O’Gara on the pitch you’d expect this to have seen Ireland ahead, but no – instead of kicking for goal Ireland settled for a series of attacking line-outs which were soaked up by Wales.

Roberts did eventually manage to get Wales moving forward, but O’Driscoll intercepted Philips’ pass to see D’Arcy run a dummy and show the danger this Ireland side pose. However somehow little Shane Williams managed to hold Sean O’Brien off the floor as he crossed the line to deny Ireland a first try.

An O’Gara penalty in the 23rd minute got points on the board for Ireland after again the Welsh fell foul of tackle laws, but a long-range penalty from Halfpenny restored Wales’ seven point lead before the break.

HT: Ireland 3 – 10 Wales

Ireland looked bright starting the second period, with Ferris and Bowe linking up to give Earls the time to cross in the corner and allow O’Gara to add the conversion.

The scores were level for just five minutes before Philips got down the blindside after an Alun  Wyn Jones drive, giving Wales an advantage they would old onto. Priestland failed the conversion and had a penalty rebound off the post shortly after.

Centre Davies made the most of Healy appearing in the midfield defence, finding off the prop and bursting through to score – this time Priestland didn’t miss and Wales went 12 points ahead with 15 minutes to play.

Ireland’s attempts to respond saw replacement scrum-half Eoin Reddan make a superb pass to O’Brien but he was halted three metres short and knocked on, when Healy was penalised at the scrum Wales were able to clear.

Ireland threw the kitchen sink at Wales in the dying stages but a defence coached by Shaun Edwards stood up to every bit of it….

Congratulations Wales!

Rory Best will under a late fitness test on a shoulder injury he picked up against Italy with Sean Cronin waiting in the wings. The teams have to be in 48 hours before kick-off and Kidney says he may make that call as late as the last minute! If Cronin is promoted to the starting line-up then Damien Varley would be promoted to the bench. Otherwise the pack is unchanged.

IRELAND Team & Replacements (v Wales, 2011 Rugby World Cup quarter-final, Wellington Regional Stadium, Saturday, October 8, kick-off 6pm local time/6am Irish time):

15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 - Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
10 - Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
9 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)/Sean Cronin (Leinster)
3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
4 - Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 - Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

Replacements:

16 - Sean Cronin (Leinster)/Damien Varley (Garryowen/Munster)
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
19 - Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
20 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
22 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

Tonga’s reward for one of the biggest upsets in Rugby World Cup history sees them make a massive leap in the rankings, meaning they now sit one below France who have dropped below Ireland, Wales and Argentina to eighth (the lowest position they’ve occupied!).

IRB WORLD RANKINGS (as of Monday, October 3):

Last week’s positions in brackets -

1(1) NEW ZEALAND 90.62 rating points
2(2) SOUTH AFRICA 86.71
3(3) AUSTRALIA 84.84
4(4) ENGLAND 84.54
5(6) IRELAND 83.14
6(7) WALES 80.73
7(8) ARGENTINA 80.28
8(5) FRANCE 79.72
9(13) TONGA 76.63
10(9) SCOTLAND 76.20

O’Driscoll’s 45th try moved Ireland to 17-9 in the second half and with players all stepping up tot he mark the space was created for Keith Earls to celebrate his 24th birthday with two-tries. O’Gara added four penalties and two conversion to take his points tally to 16. Sexton on as a replacement for O’Gara also added a conversion and a penalty.

A front row of Healy, Best and Ross was more than a match for the expected struggle in the scrum and the back row of O’Brien, Ferris and Heaslip were dominant throughout.

The unlucky player of the night was Tommy Bowe, who had a first half try disallowed and went so very close to scoring in a frenzied second half!

Nobody really cares which way Ireland do it, all of the above work as results on Sunday which would see Ireland go through to the knockout stages. The euphoria of that win over Australia is over, it’s time to knuckle down. We always knew that the Australia game would be a challenge, but really it was always going to come down to the game against Italy.

Italy know what they have to do, they plan on dominating the scrum and not letting Ireland play a running game. We’ve heard this talk before but this time (despite all the pre-match chatter), Kidney is aware that Italy could do this.

Experience comes in the form of O’Gara at fly-half, the playmaker will be expected to control the game, but Kidney has sprung a surprise by offering Conor Murray only his second international start at scrum-half

O’Driscoll who sat out the Russia game, will return to captain the team and he has absolute faith in Murray:

“He’s new but he’s dealing with it extremely well. He’s a confident young man, very much in his depth in the surroundings and you wouldn’t know he has a handful, not even a handful, of Tests under his belt.”

The pack is unchanged from the team that beat Australia, although O’Connell will undergo a late test on his hamstring. Leo Cullen who captain the win over Russia will be on standby to step in.

Andrea Masi returns to the Italy side after a calf muscle injury forced his late withdrawal from their win over the United States (McLean drops to the bench to make way for Masi).

IRELAND Team & Replacements (v Italy, 2011 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Otago Stadium, Sunday, October 2, kick-off 8.30pm local time/8.30am Irish time):

15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 - Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
10 - Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
9 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
4 - Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 - Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

Replacements:

16 - Sean Cronin (Leinster)
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
19 - Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
20 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
22 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

Italy team

Andrea Masi; Tommaso Benvenuti, Gonzalo Canale, Gonzalo Garcia, Mirco Bergamasco; Luciano Orquera, Fabio Semenzato; Sergio Parisse (captain), Mauro Bergamasco, Alessandro Zanni, Cornelius van Zyl, Quintin Geldenhuys, Martin Castrogiovanni, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Salvatore Perugini. Reserves: Fabio Ongaro, Andrea Lo Cicero, Marco Bortolami, Paul Derbyshire, Edoardo Gori, Riccardo Bocchino, Luke McLean.

Whoever loses the Pool D clash faces a trip home, but that won’t force the Ireland management’s hand into risking O’Connell. If Ireland win there’s likely to be a quarter final against Wales and possibly more…

O’Connell has resumed running and hopes to make a return to training tomorrow.

Conor Murray and Ronan O’Gara ran through the session with most of the front-liners suggesting that they will start ahead of Sexton and Reddan. Trimble is also pushing for a starting place but you would expect the team to remain largely unchanged from the starting lineup against Australia.