Rugby Positions

  • August 17, 2016

Size doesn’t matter. Just ask Scotland’s Tom Smith. Despite a lack of size or experience, he rocketed to prominence in 1997 after being picked for the Lions tour of South…

  • August 17, 2016

Props rarely get much glory but if they did, Craig Dowd would be among the most lauded of all because he was one of the foundation stones upon which the…

  • August 17, 2016

To a younger audience, John Sydney ‘Syd’ Millar will be more familiar as an elder statesman of rugby administration, this recognition coming after a four-year stint as IRB chairman (2003-07) and…

  • August 17, 2016

Major teams: Gloucester, Moseley, Cardiff Country: England
Test span: 1985-1993 England caps: 27 (26 starts) Lions caps: 3 (2 starts) Test points: 15 (3T) His finest hour was the 1989 Lions…

France's Jean Prat

  • August 17, 2016

Major teams: Lourdes Country: France Test span: 1945-55 Test caps: 51 (51 starts) Test points: 144 (9T, 27C, 15P, 6DG) French rugby suffered an inferiority complex as international rugby’s ‘also-rans’…

Ian Kirkpatrick

  • August 17, 2016

Major teams: Poverty Bay, Canterbury Country: New Zealand 
Test span: 1967-77 New Zealand caps: 39 (38 starts) Test points: 57 (16T) When he emerged in the mid-1960s, flankers usually played…

Jerry Collins

  • August 17, 2016

Major teams: Wellington, Hurricanes, Ospreys, Toulon Country: New Zealand Test span: 2001-07 Test caps: 48 (42 starts) Test points: 25 (5T) There are back-rows who have been capped more, players…

  • August 17, 2016

Major teams: Fylde, Gosforth, Wasps Country: England Test span: 1973-80 England caps: 23 (23 starts) Lions caps: 4 (4 starts) Test points: 12 (3T) He was a granite-like forward who…

John Jeffrey on the attack against France

  • August 17, 2016

Major teams: Kelso Country: Scotland     Test span: 1984-91 Scotland caps: 40 (40 starts) Test points: 44 (11T) Ceaselessly circling the breakdown, ruthlessly attacking on the counter or nibbling at…