"Balance, compatibility, chemistry. Just few of the considerations any selector must take into account in assembling their team. But if you're seeking them, look elsewhere." Huw Richards reports

The scrum.com team of 2007 is an arbitrarily chosen group of individuals who have made an impact over the last 12 months.

Like our World Cup XV it isn't a World XV to play Mars. Nor, although there are points of similarity, is it merely a World Cup XV. As the defining event of the year, and one occurring close to its end, it inevitably plays a very large part.

But your one-man selection panel has done his best to take at least some account of performances in the Heineken, national competitions, the Six Nations, Super 14 and Tri-Nations while avoiding being too blatant about personal allegiances (although he did think about picking Shane Williams for the simple entertainment value that be brings to any match).

And if the outcome looks rather like a South Africa-Argentina select with Fijian trimmings, an awful lot of them located in France, isn't that pretty much how the year was in the end ?

So here goes....

15. IGNACIO CORLETO.
Jason Robinson went out on a high and Percy Montgomery was a solid and prolific element in South Africa's efforts. But add in his contribution to Stade Francais's French title to the way he appears in just about every memorable move produced by the Pumas and you really can't see past Corleto.

14. VILIMONI DELASAU
Dave Strettle and Paul Sackey gave England a real attacking edge, Vincent Clerc will appear in Irish nightmares for years and it was never clear why Bernard Laporte lost faith in Aurelien Rougerie. And you know about Shane. But it comes down to two serious candidates. J.P. Pietersen (what it is with Boks and initials?) had a terrific World Cup, at least matching the much more feted Habana on the other wing who scored in the Super 14 final as well. But Delasau finally beat him out with that extraordinary solo try for Clermont at Wasps in the Heineken, proving that Delasau's devastating efforts against Wales and the Boks in the World Cup were no mirage.

13. DAN HIPKISS
I said it wasn't a world XV. Francois Steyn could conquer the world in any of four positions, Stirling Mortlock had a terrific World Cup and so, amid the shambles around him, did Brian O'Driscoll. But Hipkiss made a consistent impact all year with his direct running and solid tackling, making the decisive try in an epic EDF Energy Cup final and a short but vital contribution to England's semi-final victory over France.

12. FELIPE CONTEPOMI
Aaron Mauger would have been strolling this particular position at mid-season and you have to wonder why we didn't see much of him at the World Cup. Gordon D'Arcy had a terrific Six Nations but a shocking World Cup. Even so both could have done a lot in France and still struggled to beat out Contepomi, who was superb as Argentina's second playmaker, kicked his goals and also as a qualified doctor proves that you don't have to be an athletic monomaniac to play at the very highest level in the professional era.

11. BRYAN HABANA
Well, who else were you expecting? Sitiveni Sivivatu and Drew Mitchell remain class acts, but you really can't argue with eight tries in the World Cup finals, the winning try in the Super 14, IRB Player of the Year and the closest resemblance any of us has seen to a greyhound on the rugby field.

10. JUAN MARTIN HERNANDEZ.
Jonny did brilliantly when it mattered in the World Cup and you couldn't really blame Daniel Carter for New Zealand's implosion. Berrick Barnes did enough to suggest that he's a stayer as well as a shooting star. Hernandez, though, performed for both Stade Francais and Argentina in a manner that makes you wonder what will happen if he ever plays for a team that wants him to give full rein to his extraordinary talents rather than controlling them. The memory lingers of the gasp from the crowd at Northampton following the bullet-like trajectory and pace of a place-kick in one of Argentina's mid-season warm-up matches

9. FOURIE du PREEZ
Agustin Pichot went out gloriously (and his small child was by far the World Cup's most consistently entertaining press conference contributor). Moses Rauluni was sensational for Fiji and Alessandro Troncon had a superb Six Nations for Italy. Andy Gomarsall's resurrection was one of the most remarkable stories of the year. But du Preez's extraordinary display against England was merely the peak in a year of consistent excellence on the days when it mattered.

1.GRAHAM DEWES
Yes, I am perfectly well aware that just about every other scrum in the World Cup would have fancied their chances against Fiji and that Andrew Sheridan, Tony Woodcock, Os du Randt and particularly Rodrigo Roncero had excellent World Cups. But the great moment of the tournament, even for this Welshmen, was the Dewes try that completed Fiji's richly deserved victory in Nantes and ensured that the opening stages had the 24-carat shock that had threatened but not quite yet happened.

2. MARIO LEDESMA
Just about the toughest choice in the team. John Smit was terrific both as player and captain in the World Cup - and no big match saw a better individual performance than Raphael Ibanez produced for Wasps in the Heineken Cup final, and he was pretty good when France won the Six Nations with that devastating opening burst at Croke Park. But Ledesma has been so consistently superb both for Argentina and Clermont, where he generally starts ahead of Smit, that he gets the nod

3. CARL HAYMAN
CJ van der Linde was solid all year for the Boks, Phil Vickery's return was one of the better narratives in an England squad full of them and Martin Scelzo upheld the best Argentinian traditions. But whoever's fault New Zealand's demise was, there is no evidence that it was Hayman's as he performed effectively in the scrum while doing more than his share around the park.

4. MARIO BORTOLAMI
No doubt that Simon Shaw had the better World Cup, as well as winning the Heineken with Wasps. But Bortolami's performances across the year, for Gloucester and in an outstanding Six Nations campaign for Italy, get him the place and - with Smit only on the bench for this team - the captaincy as well.

5. VICTOR MATFIELD
South Africa could have won the World Cup without Habana, Petersen or, at a pinch, Smit. They probably could not have done so without Matfield's absolute monarchy of the line-out, even if this did have the unfortunate side-effect of almost completely neutering England and ensuring a final of historic tedium. He also led the Bulls to their Super 14 triumph and would get my vote over Habana as Player of the Year

6. MARTIN CORRY
No he isn't the best number six in the world. Schalk Burger gets to play against Mars. He may not even, given that it is probably really Lewis Moody's natural position, be the best six at Leicester. But nobody epitomised the utterly unsinkable, resilient and selfless qualities that underpinned England's extraordinary World Cup revival than Corry, whose willingness to 'take one for the team' was epitomised by once more accepting the captaincy at the low point of the campaign. The epitome, as I and another Welshman found ourselves slightly surprisedly agreeing when we met shortly after the tournament, of the positive aspects of Englishness. Lifted a couple of trophies with Tigers aswell.

7. JOHN BARCLAY
Richie McCaw still gets to play against Mars while Nili Latu, Akapusi Qera, George Smith and Thierry Dusautoir fight for the squad place. But if anybody has looked a surefire star of the immediate future it is Barclay, who was quite magnificent in helping ensure that Scotland's World Cup mismatch against New Zealand never turned into a rout and has continued in the same vein in Glasgow's Heineken campaign.

8. PIERRE SPIES
Another ferociously contested position. Gonzalo Longo was magnificent at the World Cup and Finau Maka would have been one of the most compelling presences of the tournament even without that glorious coiffure. Spies, though, may through his absence have been the difference for South Africa between being merely formidably effective and downright awesome at the World Cup.

Replacements : Steyn, Pietersen, Pichot, Roncero, Smit, Vickery, Dusautoir.

Coach : Marcelo Loffreda

Referee : Nigel Owens. Not at all a bad ref, and 'coming out' in a distinctly macho culture showed the sort of moral courage we need in referees.

So what do you think of our selection? Let us know your thoughts here