Top 10 Rugby Players
- The Top1014
- Gary Emmerson’s version
- Your version
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Jonah Lomu
A giant of the rugby union game quite literally as he weighed in at a staggering 18st 13lb (120kg). The New Zealand winger was like a battering ram to opponents, the smaller guys - still quite some size themselves but tiny in comparison - just bouncing off him. A kidney-related disease halted his career before transplant surgery allowed him to make a comeback. Lomu never won the World Cup but with a record 15 tries in Rugby World Cups, for me he deservedly takes top spot.
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Jonny Wilkinson
Wilkinson is the leading points scorer in world rugby union history and one of the world's greatest exponents of the kicking game in rugby union. His drop goal was the score that earned England a first World Cup in 2003 and earned him an legion of female admirers in the process. His stance and praying motion before kicking is unique, as is his points haul of in excess of 1000 for England. He also holds the points record in World Cups as well as the most drop goals in international rugby.
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Dan Carter
New Zealand rugby union fly-half Carter has to make the top 10 in my mind, like Wilkinson for his goalkicking abilities which have ended the hopes of many a nation taking on the All Blacks – so much so the All Blacks have lost just eight games when Carter has featured since 2003. Accurate would be the only suitable word to describe Carter’s kicking, whose deadly skills on conversions, penalties and drop goals can only be described as "awesome". His general play in the game itself was world class too.
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Shaun Edwards
Arguably the greatest rugby league player to have played the game in Britain, Shaun Edwards made 584 appearance – the majority of which came for home town club Wigan, with whom he achieved great success. The full-back signed for a record fee as a 17-year-old and went on to win the Super League (in its former guise) a record eight times, including seven years running, as well as the Challenge Cup a record nine times.
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Barry John
Some will never have heard of Barry John, others will wonder how he has made this shortlist. But in a career that saw him earn 25 caps for Wales between 1966 and 1972, John’s talents as a fly-half – and his almost telepathic relationship with scrum-half Gareth Edwards – earned him the nickname The King and saw him revered by the entire nation. Sadly, he quit rugby union at just 27 due to media attention disappeared from the sport all too soon.
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David Campese
When Australia's rugby union team were at their very best during the 1980s and 1990s some of the success was due in part to the brilliant wing play of Campese. Michael Lynagh may have pulling the strings at fly-half, but it was the silky skills, speed and downright determination to get across the try line that earned so many tries. An outspoken sort, many people found him brash but on pure rugby talent I feel he has to make the top 10.
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Jason Robinson
Robinson is a legend of both rugby union and rugby league. He starred with Wigan Warriors in rugby league, winning the Super League five times and the Challenge Cup three times. In 2000, the man nicknamed Billy Whizz because of his devastating pace, which coupled with his trickery made him a difficult opponent to face, made the switch to rugby union, joining Sale Sharks. In 2006, he became the first player to win the Guinness Premiership (Rugby Union) and the Super League (Rugby League). Robinson’s greatest achievement came in 2003 when helping England lift the Rugby Union World Cup, his first-half try against Australia proving crucial.
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Francois Pienaar
Pienaar will always be remembered as the man who lifted the Rugby Union World Cup for South Africa on home soil in 1995, the first major success since the Rainbow Nation was permitted back into international competition following the end of apartheid. Receiving the trophy from Nelson Mandela is a picture that will live long in the memory. And being played by Matt Damon in Invictus, a movie based on the story of that World Cup, is not a bad testament on the biggest achievement of his career.
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Martin Johnson
Johnson is the lion-hearted England captain who led his team to rugby union World Cup glory in 2003. The giant lock played a pivotal role in the creation of the drop goal opportunity that led to Jonny Wilkinson's drop goal which saw off Australia in that 2003 final. Johnson his body on the line and more during a spell in which England won the Six Nations title five and also captained the British Lions on two of the three tours he went on – becoming the only man to captain the Lions twice.
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JPR Williams
John Peter Rhys Williams was simply known by his initials JPR and was an iconic figure of the dominant Welsh rugby union side of the 1970s. The full-back, noted for his long hair and for wearing his socks around his ankles, had a devastating turn of foot and helped Wales achieve the Grand Slam in 1971, 1976 and 1978 (he also helped Wales to the Triple Crown on six occasions), earning 55 caps for his country in the process. He captained Wales five times.
