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3. Tim Horan
Like South Africa’s legendary Os du Randt, Tim Horan was one of a rare group of players who not only played in three different World Cups, he also won it twice.
When the Wallabies were in South Africa for the 1995 World Cup, Horan was well below his best, and was still only really making his way back after an horrific knee injury that had ruled him out for the best part of a year in the previous season’s Super 10 final, where he had been playing for the Queensland Reds against Natal. Apart from Horan not being at his best, the Wallabies perhaps invested too much in some of their more aged campaigners, and they bowed out in the quarterfinal to a Rob Andrew kick against England. However, that one blip was sandwiched between two wonderful World Cups for Horan, who ended his career at the 1999 event as the Player of the Tournament. His performance in the semi-final against South Africa at Twickenham was particularly noteworthy. While the Boks, somehow hung in to draw the scores level on the stroke of full-time and force the match into extra time, it was Horan who kept them on the hop by tearing holes in their defensive system almost every time he touched the ball. Considering how well he played in that game, it was hard to believe afterwards that he had been down with food poisoning the night before and nearly never played in the game. In his era, Horan was probably the finest centre, and there was hardly a rugby scribe at the 1999 World Cup who did not include him at inside centre in their hypothetical World XVs at the end of it.
Horan also played an influential part in helping the Wallabies to victory in the final against France at the Millennium Stadium, so ensuring that he was able to sip from the Webb Ellis trophy for the second time in his career.
Horan, known as Tiny Tim to some, scored four tries in the 1991 World Cup and was instrumental in creating some of the opportunities that David Campese exploited on the road to becoming Player of the Tournament that year.
He did flirt briefly with flyhalf in 1996 but Horan spent most of his career at inside centre, playing 80 times for Australia and scoring 140 points. That tally included 40 tries. Perhaps the most famous try that he scored was the one where he took a backward pass over the shoulder from Campese in the 1991 semi-final against New Zealand.
But it was at the 1999 event that he arguably reached his peak, scoring two tries including the fastest in the tournament - after just 92 seconds - in the opening game against Romania. His standout performances gained him player of the World Cup.
Hands down the greatest numcer 12 in Super Rugby history, and not far behind the two above him on this list. He was all you could ask for in a midfield back with his strong defence, top playmaking abilities and general intelligence. But above all, it was his ability to cut opposition defences to bits that separated him from the rest, making him always one of the most heavily marked players on the field.