TOP TEN RUGBY PLAYERS
Top 10 Great Rugby Players of the last 100 years
The World’s best players will be taking centre stage later this year as the Rugby World Cup gets underway in France. With the abundance of talent on show, rugby supporters will be spoilt for choice when it comes to placing their rugby spread bet during some mouth-watering World Cup encounters.
But whilst the focus of the rugby betting world will be focused very much on the 20 sides taking to the field this summer, what remains up for debate is whether if they compare to the true greats of the game.
Gareth Edwards
Gareth Edwards is widely recognised as not only the best scrum-half to have ever played the game, but probably the best player ever. He was born the son of a miner on 12th July 1947 in Pontardawe in Wales. He won his first of fifty three caps for Wales in 1967 and was ever present in the great Welsh rugby side of the 1970’s. His first cap came against France at the age of 19 and he went on to become Wales’s youngest ever captain the following year.
It was no coincidence that Edward’s era resulted in total Welsh domination of the Five Nations Championship with seven Five Nations titles including three grand slams and five triple crowns. He also enjoyed enormous success with the British Lions and was again instrumental in the famous 1971 Lions side that conquered New Zealand and then went on to victory in South Africa three years later. Edwards was the complete player with pace, talent, strength, vision and bravery.
He scored what many consider to be the greatest try of all time for the Barbarians against the All Blacks in 1973 and was a true great. The question amongst the Rugby betting public in Wales is whether current captain Stephen Jones can lead his side to similar success?
Colin Meads
Colin Meads was born on the 3rd June 1936 in Cambridge (New Zealand) and has an iconic status in his native New Zealand. He was first selected for the Under 21 National side in 1955 and after a promising tour he was selected for the National side tour of Australia the following year.
He was a very flexible player and although a lock, he was comfortable at flanker, number eight and even on the wing. He was nicknamed the ‘Pinetree’ as he was 6’4’’ tall and 16 stone and he went on to play 133 games for the All Blacks between 1957 and 1971 and scored 27 tries. He was an inspirational figure to the rest of his team and to all those who watched him.
Sean Fitzpatrick
Sean Brian Thomas Fitzpatrick or ‘Fitzy’ was born on the 4th January 1963 in Auckland, New Zealand. He had rugby in his blood as his father Brian also played for the All Blacks. He was relatively unknown when he made his debut for his country in a weakened side against France in 1986. Over the next decade he became one of the most respected and complete rugby players of all time. He played 92 times for his country as hooker and is widely seen as the best ever in that position.
He went into the inaugural World Cup of 1987 as second choice to captain Andy Dalton, and when given his chance through injury, he ended up keeping Dalton out of the side. He was made captain of the All Blacks in 1992 and kept the honour until his retirement. With the rugby betting community making the All Blacks favourites for the forthcoming World Cup, the pressure will be on to repeat the achievements of Fitzpatrick’s team of ’87.
David Campese
David Ian Campese or ‘Campo’ was an unknown 19 year old working in a sawmill when he burst onto the scene and became Australia’s greatest ever winger and one of the world’s finest backs. He was born on 21st October 1962 in Queanbeyan and originally started playing rugby league as a teenager. When he switched codes in his late teens, his rise to stardom was extraordinarily quick and by the age of 19 he was selected as full back for the Australian Under 21 side.
After a string of dazzling performances he earned his test debut at the end of the year. In total he went on to win 101 caps for the Wallabies and scored a record 64 tries. He was instrumental in Australia’s World Cup victory in 1991 and is famous for introducing the ‘goose-step’ to the modern game. Campese had a huge personality on and off the field and will be remembered for a long time to come. The Wallabies have looked convincing in their World Cup warm up games thus far, making them an attractive proposition for a rugby spread bet.
Serge Blanco
Serge Blanco was born in August 1958 in the Venezuelan capital city Caracas. He was brought up in France and first represented them against South Africa in 1980. He was a fullback with immense natural talent and skill. He will be remembered for his creativity, natural flair, pace and agility. He went onto to win 93 caps for France including two Five Nations Championships Grand Slams. He gave the French side a flamboyance that saw them score some scintillating tries. He famously instigated a try from behind the French own try line against England at Twickenham in 1991. He will also be remembered for his smoking habit and the fact that he smoked up to 60 cigarettes a day during his peak.
Gerald Davies
Thomas Gerald Reames Davies was born in Llansaint in Wales on the 7th February 1945. He became arguably one of the greatest wingers of all time whilst playing for Wales between 1966 and 1978. He made his international debut against Australia in Cardiff in 1966 and played for Wales for 12 years. During those years, Davies had 46 caps and scored 20 tries. He was an important member of the legendary Lions tours in 1968 and 1971 along side many other Welsh legends. One of his most famous moments came in the 1971 Five Nations against Scotland where he scored a last minute try to snatch victory away from the Scots.
Lucian Mias
Lucian Mias was born in Saint-Germain-of-Calberte in France on September 29th 1930. He played in the second row and is seen as the father of French forward play. He will be most remembered for his antics before the decisive test against South Africa in the 1950’s. He drank half a bottle of Rum on the eve of the game and woke up with a monumental hangover. He went on to astonish those watching with one of the greatest individual performances in the history of rugby. He was an innovative captain whose line-out ploys are still used today. He was nicknamed Doctor Pack as he also studied medicine.
Kenneth Macleod
Kenneth Macleod (Scottish three-quarter) was one of the youngest players ever to represent his country. At the age of just fifteen his brilliant schoolboy performances lead to the national coach approaching his headmaster to ask permission to pick him for the National side. Although the answer was no on that occasion, he was eventually given his first cap against the All Blacks in 1905 still only 17 years of age.
David Gallaher
David Gallaher was born in Ramelton, County Donegal, on October 30th 1873. At the age of five, he and his family moved to New Zealand to seek new pastures and settled in Auckland in the 1890. He grew to become a large man for his generation standing at 183cm tall and weighing 84kg. Dave Gallaher made his debut for the All Blacks in July 1903 against Wellington Province in Wellington. The following month he made his International debut against Australia in Sydney.
In total he played six Tests, four as captain and another 36 matches (27 as captain) with the All Blacks and only lost one match. The match he lost was by a single controversial Welsh try in Cardiff. He was an inspirational figure for his nation and will be remembered for captaining the All Black ‘Originals’. He captained the first ever All Black side and their tour was the most famous ever to take place.
They played 36 games in Britain, Ireland, France and Canada and remarkably won 35, lost 1 and scored 1022 points whilst only conceding 72. He was tragically killed during the War and in a book by Terry Mclean on New Zealand Rugby Legends he said ‘in death, he acquired a mystique. His grave became a shrine.’
Wavell Wakefield
Sir William Wavell Wakefield was born in 1898 and not only became a politician; he represented Harlequins and England at Rugby and later became President of the RFU. After schooling in Yorkshire, he joined the Royal Naval Air Service during World War 1. After the war he played for the Royal Air Force and Harlequins where he enjoyed enormous success. He made his England debut against Wales in 1920 and went onto to gain 31 caps (13 as captain).
He played a vital role in the development of English rugby and revolutionised the role of the back row forward. His greatest triumph was leading England to back to back Five Nation Grand Slam victories. Who would be brave enough to place a rugby bet on England for another Grand Slam triumph in the 2007 Six Nations? After his rugby career he moved into politics and became a Member of Parliament. He was knighted in 1944 and upon retirement from politics, he became the first Baron of Wakefield of Kendal in 1963.
The debate will rage amongst supporters as to the ten greatest players ever to play the oval-ball game. Any one of those players would certainly be worthy of backing in a Rugby Union bet, as would some notable omissions. The list of names that could be considered as true greats of the game would be well in excess of ten although the players that did make the top ten arguably had that extra talent to stand out as the best from the best. What remains to be seen is if the players that will be the focus of your Rugby spread bet this World Cup can perform well enough to be considered amongst the game’s elite.
Rugby Union Betting at Sporting Index
