Hooker

5.  Phil Kearns

 

Kearns was part of the highly successful Australia team of the 1990s, having represented the Wallabies in both the triumphant 1991 and 1999 World Cup campaigns.  Although he was injured mid-way through the 1999 tournament he is one of only six players to be twice involved in a World Cup-winning side.  The world- class hooker represented his country on 67 occasions, and also captained Australia ten times.  

 

He made his Wallaby debut in 1989. He enjoyed a rivalry on the pitch with New Zealand's Sean Fitzpatrick.  During one Bledisloe Cup match he scored a try by barging through Fitzpatrick and then made a two fingered gesture to him and saying something which most TV watchers thought they could lip read.  Kearns insisted he said "Two sausages at tonight's barbecue please".  The catalyst for this incident was from the previous season when Fitzpatrick sledged Kearns without mercy, telling him to "Go home to your Mummy."   

 

The forward was also prolific at provincial level, turning out 73 times for New South Wales. Having made his debut in 1989, Kearns' career reflected the shifting tides of rugby in Australia, as the professional era brought about increasingly fit and mobile forwards, a trait which he epitomised.