Twenty-five greats of the game whose careers spanned 3 centuries have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in a ceremony at Wembley on Sunday at 18:00 SA Time (17:00 BST, 16:00 GMT)
Players from 7 different countries and a wide array of backgrounds were honoured at a special presentation in the Spirit of Rugby lounge at Wembley Stadium before the eagerly awaited Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool C match between New Zealand and Argentina.
From the pioneering 19th century Welsh tactician Gwyn Nichols to Rugby World Cup winners in Australian centre Tim Horan and South African scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen, the latest induction list reads like a ‘who’s who’ of rugby.
18 Captains of their countries are included. Irishman Fergus Slattery and Mervyn Davies are 2 of the names that ‘The voice of rugby’ Bill McLaren, the only non-international to feature in the latest Round of inductions, once reeled off in his unforgettable BBC commentaries.
Twice-capped coaching guru Carwyn James is 1 of 7 Welshmen to be inducted, while South Africa have 5 representatives. England, Ireland and Scotland have 3 apiece and 2 each from France and Australia make up the 25.
The inductees or family members of those who are deceased all received framed caps from World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset and chief executive Brett Gosper.
Lapasset said, “The World Rugby Hall of Fame recognises those who have made an indelible mark on our sport through feats on the field of play, displays of great character or through their tireless and inspirational work in driving forward our great game.
“The latest set of inductions includes some real legends, players who have helped to shape the image of rugby and inspire generations of fans. They are truly some of the biggest names in our sport over the past 100 years or so and all have contributed immensely to the enjoyment we have all felt watching top-level rugby over the decades. Each of these 25 inductees has made a positive impression on the sport that will last the test of time.”
Chris Rea and Pablo Mamone, who form the World Rugby Hall of Fame panel along with Henri Garcia, Nigel Starmer-Smith and secretary Chris Thau, were also in attendance.
The full list of inductees into the World Rugby Hall of Fame (in alphabetical order) is:
- Phil Bennett (Wales)
- Naas Botha (South Africa)
- Gordon Brown (Scotland)
- Marcel Communeau (France)
- Gerald Davies (Wales)
- Mervyn Davies (Wales)
- Danie Gerber (South Africa)
- Tim Horan (Australia)
- Andy Irvine (Scotland)
- Carwyn James (Wales)
- Barry John (Wales)
- Tom Kiernan (Ireland)
- Gwyn Nicholls (Wales)
- Basil Maclear (Ireland)
- Bill McLaren (Scotland)
- Edgar Mobbs (England)
- Hennie Muller (South Africa)
- Morné du Plessis (South Africa)
- Ronald Poulton-Palmer (England)
- Tom Richards (Australia)
- Jean-Pierre Rives (France)
- Fergus Slattery (Ireland)
- Wavell Wakefield (England)
- Joost van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
- John Lewis Williams (Wales)
For more information on the Hall of Fame visit, www.worldrugby.org/halloffame.
101 @ Nama:
Sorry if it came across that way.
By saying, “who to pick and who to leave out” I don’t mean individuals but rather “groups” or, dare I say it, “races”.
@ NZINCHINA:
120
Hey noodles, wouldn’t it be wonderful if you were as successful as the team you live your life so vicariously by?
😎
@ Charo:
Come on Charo you boys getting rolled by the Japs is worth a giggle, I was in Tokyo last week and I didn’t see too many rugby fields 😀
@ NZINCHINA:
a giggle?
Noodles, the world looks at Springbok rugby and they see a best of Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy concert rolled into one.
It’s laugh out loud stuff China, not giggles 😀
Springboks – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Schalk Brits,17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jesse Kriel.
Our best player last week was Lood, his reward, dropped and Vic still in the side.
What is Alberts doing in the UK, nice paid holiday.
Let’s see how Pollard will do at 10 with Schalk and Vic standing in his channel all day stuffing up the backline.
No ball stealer now that Bissie is dropped, maybe Duane can poach a few, Flo and Schalk sure as shit can’t.
8 years ago JP saved our bacon with THAT covering tackle against Fiji, last week he couldn’t stop the Japanese wing from scoring in a similar position. HM, you see what a difference 8 years make? No? Thought not.
Boks have never lost to Samoa, so should win and we will hear how we are back on track.
Then again, there was a time long long ago when we had also never lost to Argentina and Japan….the good old days
@ nortie:
It could be another close one for your boys this weekend as well, they nearly rolled you at the last WC and seem to enjoy getting amongst the Bokke.
@ nortie:
I do support the Boks, and probably (hopefully!) always will. But some of the things that are happening right now are really starting to piss me the fuck off.
Our selections, game plan (or apparent lack thereof) our inability to adapt when things aren’t going our way, political interference.
All these things are grinding me down . . .
Anyway, minor rant over.
Go BOKKE!
(And Ireland!)
@ GoBokkeAndIreland:
Yep, this current bunch in the UK are making it difficult to stay positive about them.
The worst part is we armchair supporters can see that it’s not the best squad, it’s injured and unfit players, we have no game plan etc., but we are expected to believe the opposite because the coach tells us so.
He may surround himself by idiots and yes men, but he must understand that the supporters are not being paid to shut up and nod along with the crap he spews forth like his support staff and team.
126 @ NZINCHINA:
For sure Noodles, it’s a sad day when we as Bok supporters don’t expect our team to thrash the Samoans.
We have been relegated to hoping the Boks win when in days past we expected our team to win.
A bit disappointing that jean is still being backed, but i can o ly hope he does a good job in managing pollard and dda in defense. Also hope that schalk does his job as a forward and stay the hell out of the flyhalf position, DDA is probably going to shit himself, happened the whole superrugby 😆
Hopefully the boks can gain some respect again.
Still back them 100%
@ MacroPolo:
Got to love this quote from HM
“”I had a long chat with Jean and he just wants to serve South Africa, he said it doesn’t matter if he is not in the team it is fine and he will come from the bench or do whatever it takes for the country to win.
“I had a long and hard chat with him and I just decided as a coach, and I will stand by my decision, that if you go into a fight that you have to win that your whole career and the whole country depends on, if I go into that fight I really want to take a guy that has had six knee operations and got injured in his first game for South Africa. ”
I think that is the last type of guy you would want in a fight 😀
@ MacroPolo:
“…but i can o ly hope he does a good job in managing pollard and dda in defense.”
Making apologies for Pollard already, are we? We all know that he isn’t the best ate reading defensive lines. So, if he comes up short (AGAIN) on defence, we have to put the blame on poor, crocked JdV.
The Samoans are looking forward to this back line on defence. A freakin more porous inside defensive unite will be hard to find.
FDP…too old and too slow.
Pollard… his useless self
DDA… the weakest defender on his weak (left) shoulder you could wish to find.
JdV…Crocked…crocked…crocked…
Good thing we’re not playing against Japan…or Aus…or NZ… or any other 1st tier country.
@ Nama:
No im not making excuses, dda and pollard have been poor in defense (any shoulder).
Would be nice if whatever they do works and we can celebrate a win.
@ nortie:
Part of the quote you missed is that apparantly the team wants him to be the captain as well and backs him equally.
@ Nama:
Like i told nortie the other day, you guys try to be so far of the spectrum sometimes that anything else someone says almost anything rugby related is either seen as a negative criticism or an excuse, we try to force even neutral comments in a box. I say we because i was probably on the other side of the spectrum, but im over it… Just take comments for what they are without preconceived ideas.
So ill repeat, its disappointing jean is selected again, but i hope that he can manage dda and pollard in defense… If there can be anything positive.
@ MacroPolo:
And that surprises you how?
Those self same people voting for him also know they don’t deserve to be there, so it’s hardly surprising is it?
It’s what you call a laager mentality
MacroPolo wrote:
Springbok teams should not be “celebrating” wins against Samoa, we should celebrate when beating the AB’s or other worthy opponents.
Beating Samoa should be a given and just a box to tick off on the way to greater glory
@ nortie:
Lol i know it does not make a difference, it was just part of the press conference.
@ nortie:
Well ill celebrate it, and we usually do. If we dont celebrate winning then where is the joy in sport?
@ MacroPolo:
😆
The press conferences are the highlight of the WC so far, and people said Divvie het stront gepraat 😉
@ nortie:
Lol meyer is under the magnifying glass and talking stront, but thats often the case of any press conference however which way you want to swing it.
MacroPolo wrote:
I hear you, currently with these Boks their isn’t a lot of celebrating, 3 wins in 9 tests, so I guess you have a point.
Any victory is worth celebrating
@ nortie:
Didnt you see pdivvies comments on sunday? He is still the undisputed champ. 😆
MacroPolo wrote:
Meyer is only one part, it’s when he rolls out his gurus like Laubser and van Graan when it gets worse 😀
And then he parades the players who did the least in our loss to Japan to tell us how positive they are.
The only thing currently more shambolic than our press conferences is our game plan and players
MacroPolo wrote:
As coaches go between him and Meyer, I agree 😉
@ MacroPolo:
Hoe ver gaan jou Bulle verloor teen die Sharks?
@ nortie:
Yep ended last in the rc 3/4times
@ nortie:
Angostara made the initial post.
Peter de Villiers on eNCA, 20 Sept 2015, 07:09 am:
Interviewer:
“You’ve been critical of Heyneke Meyer, do you feel justified now after yesterday, after the disastrous results yesterday as well as in the recent past?”
PdV:
“NO I WAS’NT critical of Heyneke Meyer (huh?). I was critical of how he did things and how dishonest the man is, uhm, the agendas he drives, I was critical about that, and he was the one who drives it so, so, so it’s just normal that he gonna be hit too ….”
“… nobody respects us anymore. If you look at Australia. Australia is a BAD COUNTRY (huh?), but their sport make them look very, very good in the eyes of the people. New Zealand THE SAME (huh?), but their sport make them look good. People respect us for our rugby – for NOTHING ELSE IN THIS COUNTRY (huh?). People all over the years respect us for rugby. What are we respected for now? …”
“… we put ourselves so far back in, in, in world rugby – people don’t respect us anymore FOR THE ONE THING WE CAN DO GOOD (huh?) and that is my biggest problem …”
Interviewer:
“So, if you leave here this morning and you get a call from Heyneke Meyer, for instance, and he asks you for advice what would you do in the situation they are in now?”
PdV (concluding with a smug smile):
“One thing is, and it is the only advice I can give him and anybody, if you are not close to the Lord, if you are not close to your knees, you do not know where your strength comes from, you rely on people around you, you rely on yourself, you’re gonna get worse and worse and worse. You must go back and ask Him, ‘what is my strengths, what made me me, what is Your Will through me?’ And get to that as quick as possible, and get the team to follow that.”
MacroPolo wrote:
Ahh, yes, but didn’t have the luxury of playing Argentina twice every year.
And still managed to win a RC without getting to play Argentina twice
148 @ MacroPolo:
Not to get all religious or anything, I have noticed that when the Boks won in the past the first thing HM did in his interviews was to loudly thank The Lord for the victory and the blessings.
I haven’t heard him thank The Lord for the same blessings and opportunities after every loss though.
Just a thought
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