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World of Boxing and Rugby Union
I
Keith Donald’s Rugby Union Dream Team
My two passions in life are Boxing and Rugby Union. What I love about both is there is nowhere to hide. Although Rugby is a team sport, each and every position is unique in its own way. If you get caught out and exposed on a rugby field it can be e very lonely place indeed.
I thought I would take time out and give you my compilation of the best Rugby Union players of all time. Though I have been a rugby fan for more than 40 years, I had, up to a few years ago, never taken the time to ponder who is the best of the best in each position. My curiosity piqued, I spent more than 20 hours consulting record books and websites in an attempt to separate the elite from the merely great.
Mind you, a project like this meant one had to exclude an incredible number of outstanding players. Picking the best out of the thousands who have stepped onto the pitch - and doing it in such a way that would inspire even a modicum of agreement from others - is an impossible task. Every rugby fan has his own idea of what greatness is and more often than not the list will feature an inordinate number of his contemporaries because those are the players he knows best; I make no apology for doing likewise. So without further adieu, here is one man’s opinion of who occupies rugby union’s Mount Olympus. Let the arguing begin.
Well there you go, a very subjective summary of the players I rate as the best of all time. When starting out on this journey I first narrowed my players to a pool including the players below. Other pundits would have Rugby Union’s 'Greatest Of All Time' totally different. The identity of Rugby Union’s GOAT lies within the eye of the beholder. Subjectivity lies at the heart of any discussion regarding rugby and while that may be a bad thing at times, it’s good when it comes to making lists like these.
Os Du Randt, Carl Hayman, Keith Wood, John Smit, Phil Vickery, Jeff Probyn, Colin Meads, John Eales, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Richard Hill, Francois Pienaar, Jean-Pierre Rive, Neil Back, Lawrence Dallaglio, Wayne Shelford, Nick Farr-Jones, George Gregan, Michael Lynagh, Barry John, Rory Underwood, JJ Williams, John Kirwan, Gerald Davies, JPR Williams, Gavin Hastings, Andy Irvine, Jonny Wilkinson, Gerald Davies, Mervyn Davies, Scott Gibb, Adam Jones, Finlay Calder, Phil Bennett, Brian O’Driscoll, , Jeremy Guscott