Rugby union has had its fair share of great craftsmen; players who were so consistent, precise and accurate throughout their entire careers.
Of course, not all the great players have been genuine craftsmen of the game. We’ve seen players like Kurtley Beale and David Campese, stars whose ability lies (or lay, in Campese’s case) in their unpredictability.
In fact, Australia probably have more of these players in their ranks than the really consistent ones. Israel Folau, Beale, Marika Koroibete… they’re unpredictable. Bernard Foley is the closest we have to a real craftsman at the moment in that he’s reliable and is going to get it right most times.
We often think of rugby’s craftsmen as players with precise skills like accurate goalkicking and perfect passing, so halves are going to be in the conversation more often than not.
But while having an excellent nine and ten is crucial for any rugby team, if you don’t have a good two and three, you can forget about winning any games.
So before we move onto the top three, one player worth mentioning is Ewen McKenzie. ‘Link’ was a superb tighthead prop – as good as any this country has ever seen – whose technique was exceptional, and certainly a real craftsman of tighthead play. Australia’s scrum was at its best when McKenzie was there.
Coming up with a top three isn’t an easy task. Since professionalism came about, we’ve seen an increase in the number of players who can dedicate themselves to becoming real craftsmen of the sport. But that means it’s harder for modern players to stand out from the pack, so I’m going to name a trio of retired players as my top three.
All three of these guys had similarities, but the one thing that jumps out to me is their determination. Each had their own individual style, but one thing that could be seen in all three was their determination to win.
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Michael Lynagh
The first name that comes to mind when talking about great rugby craftsmen is Michael Lynagh. You could see a real precision all through his game, particularly with his goalkicking and the way he would line up a conversion or penalty.
He did the exact same thing every single time with every single kick; wiped his hands, wiped his brow at the end of his run-up, got his composure, then came in and kicked accurately. Well, mostly.
‘Noddy’ was a perfectionist – he had this desire to get everything absolutely right – but one thing that really set him apart was his composure. Under pressure, when the going was really tough, he was outstanding.
Take the 1991 World Cup quarter-final against Ireland. We were down with two minutes to go and Michael, who was the captain that day, produced the perfect speech which kept us composed, he stayed composed, and we then went on to win that match with him scoring the winning try. That was a terrific case of him staying composed and leading from the front.
Another indicator of how good Michael was is the 1984 Spring Tour Grand Slam. Michael was only 20 or 21 during that tour and was playing alongside the best player in the world – Mark Ella.
That can’t have been easy for a 21-year-old kid to do, but Noddy looked completely comfortable.
Martin Johnson
Everyone remembers the 2003 World Cup final for Jonny Wilkinson’s field-goal, but Martin Johnson was the reason England won that match.
Johnson was a great craftsman in the way he thought about the game. He had an uncompromising demand for quality and was able to put a strategy together on the field in the middle of a game when it was needed. That’s what we saw in 2003. England won the game through Wilkinson’s field-goal, but it was Johnson’s plan that got them to that position in the first place.
England’s forwards punched it up through the middle until the time was right, and only then did they give the ball to Wilkinson for the field-goal. It was an example of how well Johnson knew the skills of his players, which was one of his great crafts.
That leadership was evident early on in his career too. I faced him in the 1995 World Cup, when England knocked us out in the quarter-finals – funnily enough from a Rob Andrew field-goal – and you could see then he had what it took to understand how to play the game and how to get his team to play the game.
There are some guys who come in and from a young age, you can see right away that they’re a leader. Johnson was one of them. His leadership ability and determination even at that young age was clear and, while he might not have been the formal leader of that pack, you could see he wasn’t far away.
(Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images)
Brad Thorn
There’s no single game or moment that stands out from Brad Thorn’s career. That’s no criticism – it shows just how brilliantly consistent he was.
Every time Thorn ran onto the field, whether he was playing rugby union or rugby league, you knew you were going to get the same thing. He was going to be aggressive, he was going to hit you really hard, and you were going to be hurting afterwards every single time.
When we talk about the craftsmanship of great jewellery and liquor and anything else, we talk about the consistency of their quality. That’s what Brad Thorn was like. There was a consistency about every game he played and you just knew he was always going to be very good.
Some of that comes back to his preparation and dedication off the field – Thorn worked incredibly hard to ensure his performances were right up there. The stories about how much time he would spend before and after training are legendary, and he was always prepared to make sacrifices to reach and maintain his quality.
Thorn was so dedicated that I can hardly think of a player who was more consistent over their career. You could maybe put someone like Richie McCaw or Jonny Wilkinson up in that conversation, but Thorn was really on another level entirely.
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So, Roarers, now it’s over to you: who do you think belongs in the list of rugby’s greatest ever craftsmen?
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Peter Connolly
Guest
Hard to see what criteria Kearns uses to measure craftsman apart from consistency and being fairly good. A lot of players were fairly good on there day, but consistency is another matter. One for me who stands out is Jonah Lomu. Always and I mean always gave us his best and it was consistantly outstanding. Another was Syd Going - a tough little bugger who never knew how to back off and while not a brilliant halfback in the classic sense of Laidlaw was highly consistent. Another who was highly consistent was Bryan Habana - 66 tries in tests is nothing to be sneezed at!
double agent
Guest
Honestly - you could pick 30 and still be open to discussion.
double agent
Guest
Agree RT. To pick three players from a century of Rugby is impossible. Depending on your age there's loads of players we've never seen. There's no doubt the game has changed significantly the last 20 years in terms of physicality and defence. My Dad played League for Easts around 1950 and had never seen a match of Rugby in his life until he watched Randwick play at Coogee Oval. He wasn't impressed. He watched the Wallabies at the SCG at the time and he thought the standard of play was so poor that any First Grade Sydney League player was miles better. He later became a big fan of Union and by the mid 80s stopped watching League and followed Union exclusively.
double agent
Guest
There should be separate lists for backs and forwards because the skill sets required are vastly different.
double agent
Guest
I think Larkham was a better player than Lynagh but obviously he didn't score 900 points with the boot. Beauden Barrett must be the most freakish runner I've ever seen at 10. If he could up his kick % and run the team a bit better he'd be at the top.
double agent
Guest
No one is as good at the end of their career as they were when they were at their peak. That's why they retire. Carter no doubt the best all round 10 of the last 40 years.
double agent
Guest
1988?
double agent
Guest
Being able to hurt people - legally - in sports such as Rugby and Rugby League is definitely something to be proud of.
Taylorman
Guest
Agree with 73 v England. That was a surreal year and if any year represents our lowest since 1949 that year was it. The ABs couldnt beat England even though England lost the three tour matches. We lost to the Baabaas earlier and even lost to our own Junior ABs on an internal tour, arranged I believe due to another scuttled Bok tour. Oddly though, that England win was the only four home unions win over the ABs in the entire 70's...and we were bad, losing to the Lions, Boks, France. Shows how bad the homeunions were those years, despite having the bigger names at Lions, Baabaas time.
Taylorman
Guest
Cant agree with the Welsh backs of the 70's and reason for that is they didnt do anything against the ABs for Wales. As is typical for Welsh teams they need other countries present to show their wares...vs the All Blacks. In 69 they had all the glory names and got pummelled. 71, 73 and 74, with the Lions and Baabaas, sure they were good. But they consistently lost to the ABs, every time as Wales, and still are. Close, low scoring matches in the 70's was all they could muster with little backplay evident. Even now Gatlands only successes with Wales out this way is his Lions tours, once again, propped up by other sides. They continue to struggle against SH sides. France beat the ABs three times in the 70's...73, 77 and 79, and only the Boks and Lions managed that...oz may have got three, they were better late 70's. So no, I dont go along with the Welsh backs being better than the French...with Wales, because we didnt see them. We certainly saw the French, and the 79 test was every bit as good as anything the Lions or Baabaas came at us with.
richard
Guest
I think if Murdoch's career had taken a different turn,,he would have gone down as one of the greats.A real pity. Cheers,Muzzo.
Rugby Fan
Roar Guru
Fouroux led France to the 1977 win: he wasn't playing by 1979. The Welsh sides of the 70s were full of flair players in the backs, easily the match of the best France has offered. If you want an example of that from England, then look no further than Woodward's team. The best I've ever seen an England side play was in the 2000/2001 season. France were a pretty handy outfit that year too - beating New Zealand 42-33 - but England beat them 48-19, scoring six tries. If you wonder why some Home Nations supporters can be ambivalent about the Lions, then that year is a good example. The 2001 Lions tour sucked all the momentum out of that England side, and it took a while to get it back. The best England have played against New Zealand was 1973, 2002 and 2012. Only the 1973 match was won primarily through the pack. That was a deliberate strategy, because New Zealand thought we'd use our backs. The 1973 team wasn't great, so it was a rare example of out-thinking the All Blacks to get a win. As far as playing in New Zealand, I'd agree that England haven't shown much flair, even in losses, It's not a question of playing in the South, since we've performed against the Sprinboks, Argentina and Australia. Our best chance to shine was probably 2003 but conditions were terrible and both teams too nervous. It ended up a win just because we made fewer horrible mistakes. Wilkinson rues that missed opportunity in his book. He thinks the frustration was one reason they then thrived on a dry pitch in Melbourne to beat Australia the following week.
Muzzo
Guest
Yep pretty right there richard, but Keith really was just one of the boy's, & a real team player. Even Piney, is known to have said that. A great bloke to socialise with, not to mention his time working as a after hours bar man, at the old Ravensbourne Hotel. A lot of fun. In regards to the media, Keith hated them all, especially those who printed their versions, & not the truth. Poison Pen McLean, as some referred to him as, was in that same category, as on tour, he was always in someones face. Grant Batty once said, that he would tackle anyone, but when it came to Keith Murdoch, he used to have second thoughts, as Keith, with the ball in hand, was like a rampaging bull. Well the proof of that was the way he scored his final try against wales, carrying two or three Welsh forwards, a few yards, to score. Cheers.
taylorman
Guest
Well the French team that beat the ABs in 79 was one of the best I'd seen and Fouroux was certainly no standout in that side. Cordonieu, Averous, Arguirre (who from memory was captain by then) were awesome and scored some stunning tries in one of the best back displays I've seen from the French, and that's saying something. Murray Taylor scored from a Mourie break at the end to water the margin down. All from memory so I might have got some of that wrong but that was one of the most memorable tests I've seen, and have seen the tries replayed many times. On that, it really does serve to illustrate the difference between France and Home unions rugby because never have I seen a Home unions side here with that sort of flair or backplay....not even close. And theyve done it several times.
richard
Guest
Thanks for the heads up Muzzo.My reference to Murdoch as a wild man is that he was not someone to be crossed.It wasn't a criticism of him.Piney did have enormous respect for Murdoch - that was my point.As for the incident which sparked it all off,yeah,I have sympathy with Murdoch there.A bitter Welsh security guard abused his power,and paid a heavy price for it.Self inflicted. Interesting that you talked to Murdoch.I remember reading of the late T.P.McLean tracking him down in Oz to get an interview,and he got the brush off.
Rugby Fan
Roar Guru
Fouroux had a fair record against New Zealand. He only played them twice - right at the end of his career. France won the first, and lost the second. I've never seen the games, but he'd just led France to their second-ever Grand Slam the previous season. Under his captaincy, France only lost two matches. By the time France beat New Zealand in two years later in Auckland, scoring four tries, there was only one player in the team who had also played in the previous win. French rugby was in rude health around that time.
Muzzo
Guest
No worries T/man, as he was a great guy. I can't confirm if he's still in the west of Queensland, or in the Territory, as it's years since we last saw each other. I did hear, but I've never had it confirmed, that he had passed, a year or so ago, but then that is only hearsay. I hope not, as he was a good guy, & a bit of a lad.. Cheers mate.
Taylorman
Guest
Thanks Muzzo, didnt know that. Didnt see that come out in the press so at least there was a bit of normality after the event. Are the odds still that hes still in the outback of Oz? Dont recall his passing...unless its my memory...
Taylorman
Guest
I usually refer to the home unions with these discussions. The french usually have exceptions but again Fouroux wasnt great against the ABs, and rightly or wrongly thats how I assess a non AB, how they go against the ABs, and I dont put him in Edwards class, in fact I dont put either Going or Laidlaw quite in Edwards class either, its just the discussion centered on the head to head. Edwards for me was the best 9 of the era and probably since, Joost and Aaron Smith for me his nearest challengers. Smith I believe is our best ever 9, but part of that is we havent been as strong at 9 as we have other positions. Sid and Laidlaw, Loveridge and Bachop, Marshall, Smith. Not overly strong by AB standards when you have no. 8s like ZZ Brooke, Lochore, Buck, Read or 7s like Waka, Kirky, Jones, McCaw, nor to mention 10's, the wings and Fullbacks. Very strong. Thats why Aaron Smith is a godsend. We finally have a top shelf passer of the ball to get our backs away. Weve missed that for decades.
Muzzo
Guest
Well richard, in truth, Keith Murdoch had the team support behind him, which actually was shown by the team preparing to walk out. The main person, that should have supported him, was Kirkpatrick. Ernie Todd was weak, as at the time, unbeknown to everyone, he was suffering from cancer, to which he passed away not to long after his return to NZ. I have spoken to Keith a couple of times, after that incident, on his way home to Ravensbourne to visit his mother, in which he did several times, after. I used to socialise with Keith years ago, when he was in Dunedin. He was a product of King Edward Tech, & after his school years played most of his rugby for Zingari- Richmond. As far as Piney goes, he was very supportive of Keith. Also to assume that Keith was a wild man, has no truth in it. Fact. Yep T/man, having heard it from the mans mouth, the behavior, was all blown up, as Keith had permission, to enter the kitchen, but it was the sower graped security guard that wouldn't listen to Keith, & threw the first punch, to his regret. Keith did return several times to NZ to visit his mother. Cheers.