It’s official: Jonah Lomu is the greatest player to have graced the Rugby World Cup. According to The Roar’s rugby experts, at least.
Over the past ten days, we’ve counted down the 50 best players in the tournament’s history, starting with Springboks flyhalf Jannie de Beer and finishing with the immense All Blacks winger.
With the final list revealed, it’s time to look into the finer details of the top 50.
A reminder, first, about the process we went through to get our rankings. Eight of The Roar’s most prolific rugby writers – experts Brett McKay, Geoff Parkes, Will Knight and Jack Quigley, live blogger Olly Matthews, and tipping panel regulars Diggercane, Nobrain and Harry Jones – and I put together our own personal top 50s, considering players’ overall impact, performances, success and longevity at the Rugby World Cup (but nothing from outside the tournament).
Points were awarded based on where a player finished on each list; 50 points for first place, 49 for second, 48 for third and so on and so forth.
Those points were tallied up, with Lomu beating out Richie McCaw for top spot by just a single one.
We’ll start with breaking it down by country. With more tournament wins than any other nation, it’s no surprise that New Zealand contributed the most players, with 16 All Blacks making the cut.
The Springboks and Wallabies were next with 11 and ten players respectively, while England were the best of the northern hemisphere nations with six. It’s worth noting that two of those Englishmen, Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson, cracked the top five – just as many as New Zealand.
France were the only other side to get multiple players into the top 50 – Christophe Lamaison, Thierry Dusautoir and Serge Blanco giving Les Blues a trio of representatives. Scotland, Wales, Samoa and Ireland each had the one.
That left South American powerhouses Argentina without a single player to make the cut, a surprising result given the Pumas have made multiple semi-final appearances. Juan Martin Hernandez was their strongest performer, finishing four spots and 18 points adrift of de Beer in 50th.
Hernandez was one of seven Argentinians to appear on at least one of our individual lists, more than Ireland, Scotland and Samoa and level with Wales, each of whom had a representative in the top 50.
The top 50 by country
New Zealand: 16
South Africa: 11
Australia: 10
England: 6
France: 3
Scotland: 1
Wales: 1
Samoa: 1
Ireland: 1
(AAP photo/Dean Lewins).
Next, it’s time to look at which positions were best represented.
Unsurprisingly, more flyhalves were picked than any other position, with nine first-fives making the top 50. Eight selections made flankers the next most popular bunch.
Wingers came in equal third alongside centres, with six from each picked, followed by the group of five scrumhalves and four number 8s.
There wasn’t much appreciation for the tight-five positions, with only four locks, three hookers and just two props making their way into the top 50.
Perhaps surprisingly, only four fullbacks – Gavin Hastings, Matt Burke, Jason Robinson and Blanco – were voted in (Robinson actually played just as many games at the World Cup on the wing as he did at the back, but given one of his matches out wide came as a substitute, I decided to count him as a 15 for the purposes of this wrap-up article).
By position
Fullbacks: 4
Wingers: 6
Centres: 6
Flyhalves: 9
Scrumhalves: 5
Flankers: 8
Number 8s: 3
Locks: 4
Props: 2
Hookers: 3
And if we were to group up the positions into broader categories, they look like this:
Outside backs: 10
Inside backs: 15
Scrumhalves: 5
Back-rowers: 11
Tight forwards: 9
(AFP photo/Marco Longari)
One more exercise before getting to everyone’s individual votes: an all-time Rugby World Cup XV, created by taking the highest-rated player in each position.
Eight of the top ten players make their way into the side, only Dan Carter (8) and Bryan Habana (10) missing out to Jonny Wilkinson at flyhalf and Lomu and David Campese on the wings respectively.
John Smit was the top-ranked hooker in the op 50, giving him the no.2 jersey in the side, while Scotland’s Gavin Hastings gets the nod at fullback. Tim Horan easily claimed the inside centre opening, while Conrad Smith at no.34 was the best-ranked outside centre (Ma’a Nonu did finish higher than Smith but only played a fraction of his World Cup rugby at 13).
Lawrence Dallaglio comes into the side at number 8, while the only two props in the entire top 50, Jason Leonard and Os du Randt, pick themselves. Yes, they were both looseheads (hey, there aren’t many other options in the final list) but given the Englishman was capable of playing tighthead, he’ll slot in at no.3 while du Randt will wear his preferred no.1 jersey.
The top 50 first XV
15. Gavin Hastings
14. Jonah Lomu
13. Conrad Smith
12. Tim Horan
11. David Campese
10. Jonny Wilkinson
9. Joost van der Westhuizen
8. Lawrence Dallaglio
7. Richie McCaw
6. Francois Pienaar
5. John Eales
4. Martin Johnson
3. Jason Leonard
2. John Smit
1. Os du Randt
Then there’s the part you’re probably all here for: how each of our panel voted individually. Everyone’s lists are in the table below, complete with the 115 players who got a mention from at least one of us.
You can order the table by each author’s votes, by player in alphabetical order, or you can search for specific players to see how your personal favourites were treated.
Have a squiz, and then be sure to let us know what you thought of everyone’s selections – as well as who you would have picked in your own top 50.
| Player | Brett | Geoff | Will | Jack | Dan | Harry | Digger | Nobes | Olly | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | J Lomu | 04 | 01 | 01 | 02 | 02 | 03 | 01 | 05 | 04 | 436 |
| 02 | R McCaw | 01 | 03 | 02 | 01 | 01 | 01 | 02 | 12 | 01 | 435 |
| 03 | J Wilkinson | 07 | 02 | 03 | 09 | 04 | 06 | 05 | 06 | 03 | 414 |
| 04 | M Johnson | 06 | 07 | 06 | 04 | 07 | 05 | 07 | – | 06 | 360 |
| 05 | F Pienaar | 03 | 09 | 05 | 10 | 13 | 39 | 03 | 09 | 09 | 359 |
| 06 | J Eales | 02 | 10 | 04 | 05 | 03 | 18 | 04 | 43 | 13 | 357 |
| 07 | D Campese | 17 | 16 | 07 | 11 | 05 | 27 | 23 | 04 | 11 | 338 |
| 08 | D Carter | 11 | 12 | 29 | 08 | 06 | 26 | 16 | 22 | 02 | 327 |
| 09 | J van der Westhuizen | 13 | 04 | 11 | 24 | 18 | 04 | 06 | 33 | 26 | 320 |
| 10 | B Habana | 09 | 17 | 08 | 20 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 07 | 37 | 308 |
| 11 | T Horan | 14 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 08 | 34 | 11 | 28 | 12 | 305 |
| 12 | G Gregan | 12 | 31 | 13 | 27 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 39 | 280 |
| 13 | V Matfield | 19 | 32 | 19 | 41 | 15 | 07 | 17 | 11 | 21 | 277 |
| 14 | J Smit | 10 | 11 | – | 06 | 09 | 02 | 33 | – | 16 | 270 |
| 15 | M Lynagh | 08 | 25 | 18 | 34 | 12 | 32 | 29 | 02 | 36 | 263 |
| 17 | M Jones | 22 | 30 | 15 | – | 11 | 21 | 08 | 29 | 20 | 252 |
| 16 | J Kirwan | – | 06 | 41 | 35 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 01 | 22 | 252 |
| 18 | J Stransky | 21 | 22 | 12 | 40 | 32 | 16 | 20 | 37 | 31 | 228 |
| 19 | J Leonard | 27 | 18 | 23 | 16 | 37 | 12 | – | 38 | 10 | 227 |
| 20 | G Hastings | 24 | 05 | 28 | 44 | 47 | 20 | 28 | 30 | 08 | 225 |
| 21 | L Dallaglio | – | 21 | 17 | 12 | 23 | – | 24 | 20 | 17 | 223 |
| 22 | S Larkham | 20 | – | 20 | 07 | 10 | – | 15 | 15 | – | 219 |
| 23 | G Fox | 23 | 13 | 33 | 23 | 31 | 35 | 21 | – | 15 | 214 |
| 24 | F du Preez | 15 | – | 24 | 45 | 29 | 14 | 22 | – | – | 157 |
| 25 | N Farr-Jones | 05 | 33 | 37 | 42 | 24 | – | 09 | – | – | 156 |
| 26 | S Blanco | – | – | 14 | 15 | 38 | – | 34 | 03 | 47 | 155 |
| 27 | M Nonu | – | 15 | – | 25 | 25 | – | 12 | – | 29 | 149 |
| 28 | T Dusautoir | 31 | 27 | 22 | – | 26 | 25 | 32 | – | 45 | 149 |
| 29 | O du Randt | – | 23 | 48 | 19 | – | 09 | 26 | – | 34 | 147 |
| 30 | J Kaino | 40 | 20 | – | – | 14 | 10 | 31 | – | – | 140 |
| 31 | S Burger | 46 | 26 | 21 | 43 | – | 28 | 39 | 18 | – | 136 |
| 32 | K Read | 26 | – | 10 | 03 | 41 | 49 | 45 | – | – | 132 |
| 33 | K Mealamu | 18 | 49 | 43 | – | 30 | 11 | – | – | 28 | 127 |
| 34 | C Smith | 38 | – | – | 22 | 22 | 48 | 38 | – | 14 | 124 |
| 35 | M Burke | 25 | 36 | – | 13 | 45 | 40 | – | 36 | 40 | 122 |
| 36 | S Williams | – | 28 | 36 | 30 | 33 | – | 47 | 17 | – | 115 |
| 37 | C Williams | – | 08 | – | – | 49 | – | 10 | – | 24 | 113 |
| 38 | D Pocock | 43 | – | – | 37 | 19 | 38 | – | 27 | 43 | 99 |
| 39 | C Lamaison | – | 19 | – | – | 42 | – | 25 | 24 | – | 94 |
| 40 | B Lima | 36 | 35 | 31 | 33 | 40 | – | 43 | – | 46 | 93 |
| 41 | B O’Driscoll | 42 | – | – | 28 | – | – | – | 13 | 32 | 89 |
| 42 | J Little | – | – | 30 | 26 | – | – | – | 42 | 19 | 87 |
| 44 | S Fitzpatrick | – | – | 34 | – | 28 | 24 | 50 | – | 33 | 86 |
| 43 | A Mehrtens | 16 | – | – | – | – | 15 | 36 | – | – | 86 |
| 45 | S Whitelock | – | – | – | – | – | 46 | 19 | – | 05 | 83 |
| 46 | J Robinson | – | – | – | – | 27 | – | 37 | – | 07 | 82 |
| 47 | R Hill | – | – | 26 | – | – | – | 27 | – | 18 | 82 |
| 48 | Z Brooke | – | – | 25 | 49 | – | – | 48 | 32 | 23 | 78 |
| 49 | D Kirk | – | – | 09 | 48 | 21 | – | 49 | – | – | 77 |
| 50 | J de Beer | 30 | 46 | – | – | – | 29 | – | 25 | – | 74 |
| – | P Montgomery | 32 | 37 | – | – | 39 | 43 | – | 45 | 38 | 72 |
| – | G Smith | 35 | – | – | 18 | – | – | 35 | – | – | 65 |
| – | W Shelford | – | – | 32 | – | 35 | 22 | – | – | – | 64 |
| – | JM Hernandez | 33 | – | – | – | 46 | 33 | 41 | 46 | – | 56 |
| – | N Back | 29 | 34 | – | – | – | – | 40 | – | – | 50 |
| – | S Parisse | 34 | 45 | – | – | 36 | – | – | – | 41 | 48 |
| – | J Smith | – | – | – | – | – | 42 | – | 16 | – | 44 |
| – | J Davis, | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 08 | – | 43 |
| – | K Wood | – | 29 | 35 | – | – | – | 46 | – | – | 43 |
| – | O Brown | – | – | – | – | – | 08 | – | – | – | 43 |
| – | D Howlett | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | – | 41 |
| – | T Lacroix | – | 40 | 42 | – | – | – | – | 34 | 48 | 40 |
| – | B Botha | – | – | – | – | – | 41 | – | 21 | – | 40 |
| – | F Contemponi | – | – | 40 | 46 | – | – | – | – | 30 | 37 |
| – | O Franks | – | – | – | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | 37 |
| – | P Sella | – | – | 38 | – | – | – | 44 | 35 | – | 36 |
| – | A Pichot | – | – | 27 | 39 | 34 | – | 42 | – | – | 62 |
| – | F Steyn | 37 | – | – | – | – | 31 | – | – | – | 34 |
| – | P Kearns | – | – | – | – | 43 | – | – | – | 27 | 32 |
| – | R O’Gara | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 19 | – | 32 |
| – | M Giteau | 41 | – | – | 29 | – | – | – | – | – | 32 |
| – | T Woodcock | – | – | 49 | 50 | – | 50 | – | – | 25 | 30 |
| – | P O’Connell | – | – | – | 21 | – | – | – | – | – | 30 |
| – | J Rokocoko | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 | – | 28 |
| – | J Small | – | – | – | – | – | 44 | 30 | – | – | 28 |
| – | R Kruger | – | – | – | – | – | 23 | – | – | – | 28 |
| – | R Underwood | – | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 27 |
| – | D Mitchell | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 26 | – | 25 |
| – | O Finegan | 28 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 |
| – | J Savea | – | – | – | 32 | – | – | – | 50 | 49 | 22 |
| – | R Ibanez | – | – | – | 47 | 44 | – | – | 40 | – | 22 |
| – | J Burger | 50 | – | – | – | – | 30 | – | – | – | 22 |
| – | J Webb | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 31 | – | 20 |
| – | G Quesada | – | 41 | – | – | – | – | – | 41 | – | 20 |
| – | S Warburton | – | – | – | 31 | – | – | – | – | – | 20 |
| – | J Roff | – | – | 44 | 38 | – | – | – | – | – | 20 |
| – | S Donald | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 35 | 16 |
| – | W Ofahengaue | – | 42 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 44 | 16 |
| – | A Wyn Jones | – | – | – | – | – | 36 | – | – | – | 15 |
| – | W Greenwood | – | – | – | 36 | – | – | – | – | – | 15 |
| – | M Gorgodze | – | – | – | – | – | 37 | – | – | – | 14 |
| – | L Nakarawa | – | 38 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 |
| – | F Galthie | – | – | 46 | – | – | – | – | 44 | – | 12 |
| – | J Kronfeld | – | – | 39 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 |
| – | A Ashley-Cooper | – | 39 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 |
| – | G Jenkins | 39 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 |
| – | T Umaga | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 42 | 09 |
| – | B Smith | 47 | – | – | – | – | 47 | – | – | – | 08 |
| – | M Dawson | – | 43 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 08 |
| – | C Charvis | – | 44 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 07 |
| – | R Caucaunibuca | 44 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 07 |
| – | N Sanchez | – | 48 | – | – | – | – | – | 48 | – | 06 |
| – | B Retallick | – | – | – | – | – | 45 | – | – | – | 06 |
| – | L Halfpenny | – | – | 45 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 06 |
| – | F Michalak | 45 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 06 |
| – | M Steyn | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 47 | – | 04 |
| – | M Andrews | – | – | 47 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 04 |
| – | D Cambarabero | – | 47 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 04 |
| – | M Ledesma | – | – | – | – | 48 | – | – | – | – | 03 |
| – | M Bergamasco | 48 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 03 |
| – | G Laidlaw | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 49 | – | 02 |
| – | A Goromaru | – | 50 | – | – | 50 | – | – | – | – | 02 |
| – | N Little | 49 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 02 |
| – | JM Fernandez Lobbe | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 50 | 01 |
| – | J Cudmore | – | – | 50 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 01 |
To finish, a quick thanks to everyone who’s followed along with the countdown over the past couple of weeks, and to the eight other panel members and Nick Bishop for bringing it to life.
Now, enjoy the World Cup!
Offside
Roar Rookie
Except Lomu wasn't half the player of Campo who wasn't half the player of Kirwan. Best spot for Lomu is Left Right Out.
Taniwha
Roar Rookie
Derek Beven's performance in the 95 South Africa v France semi was worthy of making the top 50 spot, Suzy's performance a week later was a definite top 10. Pienaar was overrated and without the help of Beven and Suzy he wouldn't even come close to making 50th. Even more unlucky than Beven and Suzy is ''Philippe Sella'', how he missed out making this list is beyond me. What was wrong with his RWC performances? He was influential in France making the 87 final, 91 semi and in 95 he should've played in another final instead going home after the semifinal. Sella & Gerber are the best centres i've seen, i can't recall Sella having bad game during a world cup. How did he miss out?
taylorman
Roar Guru
Just followed that tournament far closer than any other. :thumbup:
Harry Jones
Expert
Who was the best hooker?
Daniel Jeffrey
Editor
Sorry Carlos, I must have missed your top 50. Want to throw it here for me?
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
If you read my comments, they include suggestions. Try reading again.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
John Smit the no.2 player in RWC history? You were having a laugh there! Not even the best hooker.
Daniel Jeffrey
Editor
Yes I'm thinking of something along those lines, Paul. Leave it with me!
Daniel Jeffrey
Editor
Carlos, you've well and truly made your point about how much you dislike the list we've come up with, a view you're completely entitled to. Are you going to suggest an alternative, or are you going to keep taking pot shots whenever you get the chance?
Machooka
Roar Guru
Thanks Daniel... and to all those other good guys albeit bias self-serving bad guys so-called experts for this fascinating countdown of da 50 RWC players of all time. And thanks to all (you know who you are.. or possibly struggling to understand who you really are) others that left countless comments either agreeing or not or just ridiculing anyone or everyone just because you could... because it’s your go to mode. It’s so easy to... mode thingy! Hence, I just gotta say, for me anyway, it was a massive entertaining version, of a day after day, blow after blow of that old saying... “ Opinons, ha they’re like aR$eholes... everyone’s got one!” Enjoy the RWC :rugby: everyone... and remember it’s a game to be enjoyed!?! :happy:
Ben Pobjie
Expert
The important thing is that nobody in the comments took this all way too seriously. Good work guys.
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
It is not about maths, it is about logic and awareness of bias.
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Correct! That is why you have to pick BY RWC first and then overall. You will never completely eliminate impartiality, after all this is about opinions, but you have to establish a system to CONTROL for impartiality, to be fully aware of it.
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Now I know you are truly old.
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Thanks Geoff for being open minded enough to understand my point. Now, maybe you can reach to the more mature gentlemen of the Roar to ask them about '87 and '91. As an example, everyone had Michael Jones as a top performer. But he only played 4 matches in '87. Was his performance in those matches so outstanding that the selection was based on them or was the selection based on what people remember of him OUTSIDE of the RWC?
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Clearly, you have no understanding how bias occurs. The point of this exercise should have been to be aware of the bias and create a method that controlled it. Unless you are just interested in entertainment. I am fully aware of my own personal bias. They are not, as you call them, chips on my shoulder. I am biased towards back row players because I played those positions and loved them. I am biased by recall on recent performances because I simply forget some of the old RWCs and because I had no access to most of the early tournaments. I am also biased towards Argie players. Thereby, you have to create a model where you CONTROL bias. This is done in almost any "scientific" experiment. This is why I suggested selecting players by RWC by people that still have good recall of those tournaments. And only then ordering them by influence. If you look at my preferences by bias, by RWC I "chose" players like Kronfeld, Magne and clearly McCaw. BUT, I also selected someone like Sheridan in '07, to the chagrin of all Aussies in this site. Interestingly, in '07 Fourie was a better scrum half than Pichot. He also played in a much better team. But if I look at the influence or impact on the RWC performance, my "bias" is that Pichot was more important to that tournament than DuPreez. Is my Argie bias overcoming objective observations? Probably, but for rugby in Argentina, I am pretty sure that my assessment will be seen as correct. I can't even imagine in other RWCs any Argie player that was a tournament standout. Except for Quesada in '99. I have suggestions for '07, but I am unsure. But there are more examples of bias. Nobrain gave McCaw a poor marking because of a trip. Even in gymnastics, they throw away the highest and lowest score for every gymnast to "eliminate" (mitigate?) bias. My grump with McCaw was for 2007 where he didn't figure out to tell the backs to kick a bloody drop. But he was magnificent in '11 and '15. To give you an example from science about the need to control bias, in certain studies where you need "x-rays" to measure something, in good studies the x-ray will be read by people not treating the actual patient to reduce treater bias. The use of placebo is also to reduce the physician (and patient!) bias to response. So, again, this exercise was a popularity contest for entertainment value. If Roar wanted to do this properly, the exercise would have taken much more time and the panelists would have been much more carefully selected. But this is not science, it is entertainment. And deadlines matter. They have to "sell". So, the list, in my opinion, reached the goal of entertaining people but did not select properly the most influential players of RWC. It also taught me how many people don't use their brains carefully and are not even aware of their own bias.
Germán
Roar Rookie
Well, I'm a computer scientist but stats are not my forte either, I've just have an amateur itch for them. It's easy to make observations like these after the fact, con el diario del Lunes as we would say.
Germán
Roar Rookie
I understand your point about recency bias, indeed my earlier recollections of RWC's are from 99! That said, I don't see this issue as a cardinal sin... Even the "impact on a team" factor you are mentioning is very subjective, unless you specify it formally. Then, it is impossible to create a fully impartial ranking: even if you only look at player stats, the game in 1987 was not the same that in 1999, 2019 and 2039. Context is everything!
Kane
Roar Guru
Can you remove Brian from the selections? Might save a bit of bandwidth? :laughing:
Carlin
Roar Rookie
Outstanding effort over the last few days guys. No matter what system was used, there will always be debate. I think readers should be happy that a countdown was compiled and included a number of writers opinions. I like the justification with the breakdown. Thanks for sharing that. Gives a great outline on how the count down was done. Enjoy the World Cup everyone.