Who's your Favorite ever player.

Which player did you or do you enjoy watching the most?

Could have been an international....or a non international but a legend at your club / region.

And why? What did he bring to the team?

Can I have greedy and have three please?

First Campo, just for his brilliance and the goose step. Also for his howlers, and his undoubted courage. Actually all 3 of my choice have courage in abundance.

And the way he can wind the oppos up before and during the game. Good to see someone at the top of their game willing to show off a bit, knowing iot could and has done be embrassing when it doesn't come off.

Then Gregan. For his strength and vision, bald head and excellent passing. Oh and since he was made skipper for his gob!!!

And lastly Latham. tough choice between him and Larkham, but Latho for his positional awareness as a fullback and his tackling. By the end of his career, he was beaten a few times but he always seem to have good positional sense so can put the tackles in.

sorry all ex Wallabies, but I am biased. Plus I do npot knwo al the names of other side's players, though I do enjoy watching them.

Joost. Very exciting player.

Jason Leonard - great character and never took a backwards step.
Still involved with mini's rugby and goes to Quins.
I remember reading somewhere that he's helping in the development of Joe Marler. Something about getting a few pints down in the pub.

Interesting....

I guess its difficult to name just one.

But Jason Robinson for his sheer breathtaking ability when he got the ball.

And with regards to the Falcons:
Gary Armstrong and Inga the Winger.

Gary was nicknamed the 'scrap yard dog' by Johnny Wilkinson...showing his toughness and ability on the field. The type of player you want around you when the going gets tough.

And inga...well just class :o)

I'll give you my top 5

1- J Lomu (The birth of the modern rugby player)
2- J Robinson/S Williams both great hard to seperate them
3- G Edwards
4- M Catt/BOD
5- S Parisse

Gregor Townsend - flawed genius.

Os du Randt, winner of two RWC medals.

Tackled like a demon posessed, and a gentleman too.

Has to be JPR, one of the most unconventional players I watched when growing up.

Ended up playing at No6 for his local side when retired and proves what I always thought, he was a frustrated forward - how many fullbacks would run the length of the field to join in a fight lol.

A notable mention must go to Allan Bateman.

Willie John McBride - if you require any explanation then you are on the wrong forum

Irish Londoner wrote:Wille John McBride - if you require any explanation then you are on the wrong forum

OK, I will take a shot in the dark here.

Lions 1974?

Who?

Welsh Hooker wasnt he?

bedfordwelsh wrote:Has to be JPR, one of the most unconventional players I watched when growing up.

Ended up playing at No6 for his local side when retired and proves what I always thought, he was a frustrated forward - how many fullbacks would run the length of the field to join in a fight lol.

A notable mention must go to Allan Bateman.

Angry man - Mike Brown?

Moss Keane. An immortal of Irish rugby.

thebandwagonsociety wrote:Moss Keane. An immortal of Irish rugby.

He died this year. RIP Moss.

Ieuan Evans! Jonathan Davies was awesome too

Serge Blanco - sheer genius (and that on 60 fags a day)!

Serge Blanco

Was at his peak when rugby first registered on my young radar.

Everytime the ball went near him you expected something extraordinary and most of the time he didn't disappoint.

Genius

Too many Welsh players really but if pushed Robert Jones (Trebanos, Swansea, Western Province, Bristol , Cardiff (),Barbarians, Wales, Lions) - http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6612


NON-WELSH
England - David 'Dai' Duckham - http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6056
Ireland - Mike Gibson - http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6256
Scotland - John Rutherford - http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=7362
France - Thierry Lacroix - http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6695
Italy - Sergio Parisse - http://www.rfu.com/TwickenhamStadium/MuseumOfRugby/WallOfFame/DiegoDominguez.aspx
Australia - Rob Egerton - http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6113
New Zealand - Michael Jones http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6608
South Africa - Francois Pienaar - http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=7181
Argentina - Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe - http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6163

Noel Mannion... need i say more.



I probably should, but what a try '89

leinsterbaby wrote:

thebandwagonsociety wrote:Moss Keane. An immortal of Irish rugby.

He died this year. RIP Moss.

His contribution to Irish rugby will never be forgotten.

Jonathan Davies was my hero before he went to rugby league and Ieuan Evans afterwards.

irishlondon wrote:Noel Mannion... need i say more.



I probably should, but what a try '89

That try was great and it got me hooked on rugby. I was so excited I cut out all newspaper articles I could find the next day and I still have them.

We havn't had too many internationals from west of the shannon, but Noel did Corinthians RFC proud that day alright!

David Wallace

Jonny Wilkinson, Tana Umaga and George Smith would be other favourites. I'm a big Drew Mitchell and Andrew Trimble fan too.

It's got to be either Shane, Scotty Quinnell or Gethin for me chaps.

I find I tend to attribute hero status to foreign players as opposed to my own.

I'm going to name two as well, a back and a forward

Rob Jones - already been mentioned, but what a fantastic player, incredible pass, fast feet and would always give his all. Never got the recognition he deserved because he mainly played behind a pack going backwards

Darren Morris (swansea days when fit) - For a meaty player was extremely skillful and quick. Hands and mind of a fullback, stuck in a props body!!!! For me his game for the BaaBaas against Australia in Cardiff 2001. He was amazing, remember him tight to the touch line, sold an incredible dummy and set of down the wing like he forgot he was a prop!!!!

Rob Jones for me when i was a kid

Seeing Jonah Lomu play live was awsome too, so hes my favourite non welsh player

Dallaglio!

Masanori Kazaoka.

The most underrated member of the Japanese squad in the 1999 RWC.

For 'foreigners', Keith Wood was always a hero - great attitude to the game and always likely to do the unexpected (including attempting a drop goal at least once I can remember).

Brian O'Driscoll. He started playing for Ireland just when I started watching rugby. His acceleration made him a deadly finisher. His vision made him a great playmaker to. He was known as a brilliant attacking player but he was also the best defensive back I've seen. He could ruck like a flanker and he was also leader and warrior. He was Martin Johnson and Shane Williams roled into one as far as I'm concerned.

Now he's not the player he once was. But he's still a great leader. He still makes space for others and he's still scoring tries. He doesn't have his old pace but he always seems to get to the right place at the right time. He reads the game brilliantly.

Here's me favourite O'Driscoll try. Just because I've never seen anyone else score one with a kick-chase-volley-chase-catch-score. And it was after the first time he had been written off as finished.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5UGFTLJ6-Y

Will Greenwood, was my favourite player whilst I was growing up, he was a key part of England's most successful team and even made Mike Tindall look like a half decent player. He is also a great bloke.

I was also tempted to pick Jonny Wilkinson or Richard Hill because of their sheer commitment and work rate. They literally give/ gave everything to the cause.

Gareth Edwards.

I've supported Cardiff (now Cardiff Blues) since the mid-'50s and remember the buzz before this kid Edwards joined the club in 1966. He fulfilled all the promise and I saw him play many times until he retired in 1978. His achievements with Wales and on two winning Lions tours are legendary.

Edwards could do anything in terms of skill - run, pass, tackle, kick - and was tremendously strong and competitive. He also had a great rugby brain. He seemed to be able to take any game at any level by the scruff of the neck and do something to change it.

Other players have sometimes been able to do that too, but Edwards was a consistently phenomenal all-rounder who was possibly unique in the history of the game.

As an afterthought, he didn't get pinged much by refs but, when he did, what was it usually for? A crooked feed to the scrum. How times and refs have changed!

Mapusua! tackles and rucks like a 6, distributes like a 10, all round best LI player ive seen since i started supporting them, seems like a nice guy too. Plus he looks like a warrior

tom shanklin. what a player. massively underrated. the unsung hero of two grand slams.

NonWelsh;

Jonah Lomu
Keith Wood
Jason Robinson
John Eales (great nickname too)

Welsh;
Scott Gibbs
Shane Williams (has won me a fair bit of green off the bookies)

see (just)above

Richard Hill. Along with Johnson and Wilkinson the most important member of the England team 2001 - 2003 and England probably wouldn't have won the WC without him. Also very humble and down to earth (I recommend his book), and proved that you didn't have to be a flashy eye catching player to be so massively important to a team. For me the best No6 there has been.

Honorable mention to Blanco (probably the reason I started to enjoy rugby as much as I do now) and Dan Carter c2005. There was me being very English thinking we had the best Fly Half the world had ever seen and along comes this guy, matching Wilkinson in defense and kicking but being just amazing with the ball in hand, gliding around defenders on the outside, putting people into space - a whole level of orchestrating attacking play I had never seen before but the fact that he did this with all the boring defensive stuff as well was just amazing (even if it meant my beloved B&I Lions were hammered).

Denis Hickie.

aaaah man, too many to choose from really!

Welsh: Scott Quinnell and Stephen Jones

Other countries: Thomas Castaignede and Keith Wood.

Will Greenwood. Great player, scored tries for fun against Wales and kept going after a massive personal loss of Freddie.
Jason Leonard. Carried on after a broken back and helped the ref out on 22nd November 2003.
Brian Moore. Wound up the French and bought me a pint on my first ever meeting with him.
Rod Latham. First ever try was a 50 yard run in side stepping 8 players ;-) against West Hartlepool.
John Bentley. Those tries for the Lions and those videos in 1997 and watching him stuff a pie in his face in the Cake Tin in 2005.

For me it has to be Brian O'Driscoll.

Along with McCaw and Carter, O'Driscoll has consistantly been the best player that I've watched in the modern era. Cullen was the best in attack for sure but for allround ability and longevity O'Driscoll is the best.

Over the years he has scored some breathtaking tries and put in numerous masterclass invividual performances of centre play. In his peak he was simply phenomenal and able to rip the best defences apart with his vision and pace. His form definitely dipped after the 2007 WC, although even sub par he was still better than most, and not as bad as many pundits made out at the time.

If he'd have retired in 2007/8, when many were writing him off he'd still have been regarded as one of the best of all time. However his subsequent performance were arguably the best and most important of his career as he lead Ireland to the 2009 GS, helped Leinster win the HEC and very nearly helped the Lions beat the boks.

To this day he's still putting in the big performances for Leinster and Ireland and continues to throw himself into contact with reckless abandon. Everytime he's written off as being past his best he seems to find a big performance to show he's still got plenty left in the tank and although his fading pace and athleticism has been exposed a few times this season he's still playing some superb rugby and is still amongst the best centres around.

He truely is a once in a lifetime player and hopefully he can win some more silverware in the twighlight of his career to go with all those amazing individual stats and accolades.

Has got to be Richard Hill. A Saracens stalwart and 2003 world cup winner.

Favourite performance - when Saracens beat Ospreys in the 2008 HC quarter final - even on just one leg Hill completely outplayed the Ospreys backrow.

beshocked wrote:Has got to be Richard Hill. A Saracens stalwart and 2003 world cup winner.

Favourite performance - when Saracens beat Ospreys in the 2008 HC quarter final - even on just one leg Hill completely outplayed the Ospreys backrow.

Ah yes, the first man on the England team sheet and also the only player SCW waitied to recover from injury instead of being sent home from a RWC.

My favourite player ever is either Scott Quinnell or Jiffy. Both were simply brilliant and it's only a shame that Jiffy felt he had to go north as it's almost certain that he would be remembered alongside Benny and Barry as the greatest outside halves wales have produced.

For Scotland I always really liked Craig Chalmers he seemed to have a bit of a break on him and I enjoyed watching him play. Seems to be a half decent coach as well. Always felt like Rob Andrew must have been cheating to beat him...

Although he scored so many tries against Wales Will Greenwood was a superb player and England always looked a much more dangerous side with him in. Also post playing he comes across very well when covering games and obviously still has the passion, turning out for a local team recently.

My favourite SH player was probably James Small. A superb winger and a great personality. Donald Mcrae seems to really capture him well in Winter Colours. For anyone who hasn't read it...read it.

Austin Healey (I am a Tigers fan after all), great all rounder despite being a small guy and his vision allowed him to play all over the backline.

Cedric Heymans just because he was always good and sometimes magical. Great footballing skills and in his prime could prooduce something from nothing. The try he set up for Tolouse in the HEC Final (against Munster?) with the throw in to himself and then the two chips ahead was sublime.

the obvious for a welsh lad but SHANE WILLIAMS as a young lad never got to see the likes of gareth edwards, jonathon davies etc. But gorwing up shane has been very exciting.

also the likes of carter, Mccaw- as a flanker watching him is just amazing and i have even more respect for him, people like parrise, BOD and even Wilkinson-have alot of respect for him