#4. Courtney Lawes
What they said: The hard-hitting 20-year-old lock forward has already been tipped as a future England international, by none other than Martin Johnson. Made a telling contribution to Northampton’s excellent Heineken Cup win against Munster at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday.
Now? 80 England caps and 2 Lions caps from their tour of New Zealand proved the Guardian was on the money again here.