Planet Rugby’s Greatest Professional XV: Fly-half
As professional rugby reaches its 25th anniversary and with time to reflect on those incredible years, we decided it’s time to look at the greatest players we’ve seen grace the pitches and screens of the world.
Over the next 15 days, we will give you our take on the four best players in each position, together with our choice for the Planet Rugby Professional XV.
You’ll have the chance to vote for yours and we will publish the readers’ team on the 16th day, together with some of the opinion comments from our readers and on social media.
The players will be listed traditionally, starting at 15 to 9 then 1 to 8.
The players are judged on their contribution to the pro era only. As a default we have only considered players that played 50% of their time or more in the professional era.
We have also taken into consideration the success they enabled for their team together with individual records, leadership skills, and overall contribution to the wider ethos of the sport and rugby in their home country.
We are well aware some greats haven’t made the cut but believe us when we say the debate needed around the office to get to this shortlist was exhaustive and not without some heated emotion!
Planet Rugby’s Greatest Professional XV: Fly-half
Nominees:
Beauden Barrett (83 caps, 36 tries)
Dan Carter (112 caps, 29 tries)
Jonny Wilkinson (97 caps, 7 tries)
Stephen Larkham (97 caps, 25 tries)
The quality we have at fly-half sees four absolute giants of the game go head-to-head. No place for the talents of Lions pair Johnny Sexton and Stephen Jones, nor for that of the Springbok duo of Morne Steyn or Handré Pollard. England’s Owen Farrell and Argentina’s Juan Martín Hernández also miss out, and whilst a couple of those still have time to further their claims, we’re confident the quartet we’ve shortlisted are the very best of the best.
Beauden Barrett is a free running spirit as befits a man that plays with equal ease in the back three. One of three Test playing brothers, the Kiwi pivot’s eye for a gap and nose for the try-line has resulted in a massive 36 tries to date, even by All Black standards, an impressive haul. Fly-halves come in many shapes and sizes and Barrett’s game, whilst occasionally flaky off the kicking tee, mixes raking touch finders with a wing’s running ability.
A two-time World Rugby Player of the Year, Barrett scored the final try in the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final against Australia, having been substituted on for the injured Nehe Milner-Skudder. Dan Carter converted his try to make the final score 34–17.
Dan Carter was an unstoppable points machine and drove the All Blacks for some ten years in one of their greatest periods of dominance. With a win ratio of 89% and a kicking success rate of 79%, his 1598 points game at a whopping 14.26 per game. Possessing an all-court game, including blistering pace, defensive power and a dangerous side-step, the accomplished Carter is the game’s leading all-time Test points-scorer.
With the 2011 Rugby World Cup hosted in New Zealand, Carter hoped to celebrate by inspiring the All Blacks to glory. However, his hopes of doing so were dashed by a groin injury he suffered in training on the eve of his side’s final pool game, against Canada. But after a short period away from rugby, the Crusader returned to steer his beloved All Blacks to their second consecutive World Cup in 2015 as he netted 19 points in a consummate display, winning the Man of the Match award in his very last outing in the shirt he wore with such dignity.
Jonny Wilkinson was a global rugby superstar. Calm, humble and shy, the Newcastle Falcon was an early entrant to international rugby, representing England at the age of 18. 1286 points at an average of 13 per match underlines his contribution to the international game. Although only 5’10” tall, many believe Wilkinson changed the role of the fly-half in defence, his bone crunching tackling earning him the accolade of the most powerful pound-for-pound defender in Test rugby.
A World Cup winner at 23, rugby will always remember “Wilko” for ‘that drop goal’ but his true mastery was even more evident in 2007, where his dogged ability to find a way to win, characterised by his masterclass in the semi-final versus France, took a very average England side to a second successive RWC Final. However, Wilkinson’s body became a liability as the monstrous hits took their toll and in 2009 he headed to Toulon, where he enjoyed his most free-spirited rugby for six glorious seasons in the sun. His impact was so great in the town that at one point, the local railway station displayed a sign simply saying “Toulon; Home of Jonny Wilkinson”.
Stephen Larkham was all about running. Eschewing the traditional trend of the ten being the goal-kicker, his speed and incision in attack characterised the Wallaby style from his first cap in 1996 to his last 11 years later. Offering a stable half-back partnership with George Gregan, they appeared 79 times together, a world record, and one that focused on the counterpoint of Larkham’s rangy running and effortless deep passing with Gregan’s grit and intellect.
However, when needed, his boot was devastating, as evidenced by his monstrous 48-metre drop goal that beat defending champions South Africa in extra time of the 1999 RWC semi-final and allowing Australia to become the first double World Cup champions. Following the retirement of Larkham and Gregan from international rugby, a stand was named after them at Canberra Stadium, home of the Brumbies, an apt tribute to the craftsmanship of the great Australian outside half.
With so many points on offer and so much talent to pick from, we went for the most complete player of them all, a man with both the running and the kicking game, All Black legend, Dan Carter.