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.
Where’s Bullscot, I just picked his Jocks to win by 33!!
Cotter will outsmart Eddie methinks!
@ nortie:
First off I didn’t like how Meyer had this rigid game plan and compartmentalized his team thus limiting his players to react to opportunities…this goes back to his statement that the players are an extension of myself on the field..that’s silly stuff in my mind
PDdivvy didn’t have the respect of his players…once that goes they will run roughshod over you…Political appointments set you up for failure..yes he did get results in 2009 but the Bok had a core of the best players in the world coming off a WC..confidence was high…
@ Te Rangatira:
Meyer made the mistake of putting all his eggs in one basket.
He appointed HM as his WC captain 2 years out from the WC, giving no thought of the possibility of injury and subsequent loss of form.
Reverting back to his stalwarts of his Bulls side of 2007 even after they retired was another error, he didn’t look too hard for replacement players, his mind was made up already.
His game plan is outdated, his players are not fit enough to play 80 minutes, other players are still injured.
This campaign is shaping up to be a huge disaster, and it’s all due to him and the team he hinged his bets on.
SR form was never a criteria in his selections, picking overseas based players and injured players on reputations of years gone by
@ nortie:
JdV as captain not HM
@ nortie:
Yes..I agree with all that..Why he would go with injured players based on past glories is wrong…Form is the defining factor…
I have to add that picking overseas players…well too many has negative consequences…not just short term in terms of cohesiveness but also long term…
@ Te Rangatira:
Except for NZ, who do you think really stands a chance of winning the cup?
I think Australia might be dangerous
@ nortie
My thinking hasn’t really changed on who can take it out
Australia…England or South Africa.
I still think you guys are a chance….just through pride and stubbornness….but still doesn’t change my thoughts on Meyer
@ Te Rangatira:
Yep, agree.
Similar to France in 2011, I think it’s a travesty if a team that loses in the pool stage can even stand a chance of making or winning the final.
Especially if that loss was against a team like Japan.
It just doesn’t sit right by me.
Some of Mark’s headings this year.
Too soon for Boks to panic (08. 12. 14)
Results and form mean very little in terms of the World Cup, it’s all about who gets it right in the tournament, writes MARK KEOHANE.
Too good to ignore (12. 01. 15)
Jaque Fourie and Frans Steyn must go to the World Cup, writes MARK KEOHANE in SA Rugby magazine.
Matfield remains Titan of game (02. 03. 15)
Spies can add value to Boks (04. 05. 15)
The Springboks will be stronger with Duane Vermeulen and Pierre Spies in the match 23, writes MARK KEOHANE in Business Day.
Burger still among world’s best(11. 05. 15)
Experience, especially those players with a winning habit, a sense of occasion and a World Cup winner’s medal, gives a team the edge at the World Cup.
Wait for Bok World Cup squad(29. 06. 15)
Players not included in Heyneke Meyer’s extended squad could yet play for the Springboks this year, writes MARK KEOHANE in Business Day newspaper.
Take a deep breath, pause and then breathe again. No need, just yet, for the hysterical or for spitting the dummy. No need, just yet, for dismissing the Springboks’ World Cup challenge on the basis of Heyneke Meyer’s 49-strong Bok squad.
Reserve all judgement on the Boks’ World Cup prospects until Meyer confirms the 31 that will present the South African challenge in England.
Bok preparation starts in Brisbane</b?(13. 07. 15)
The World Cup won’t be won or lost in the Rugby Championship, writes MARK KEOHANE in Business Day.
There should be no analysis of SA’s contact session against a World XV at Newlands, but there should be plenty of thanks that inspirational Springbok captain Jean de Villiers survived his 20-minute reintroduction to rugby after seven months of knee reconstruction rehabilitation.
Meyer needs big World Cup(17. 08. 16)
Heyneke Meyer, like his predecessors, must be judged on a four-year cycle that culminates with the World Cup, writes MARK KEOHANE in Business Day.
The vitriol that flowed following the Boks’ home defeat against Argentina was disgraceful.
The personal attacks on Meyer were disgusting. Accusations ranged from racism to provincialism to the Bok coach even being anti-English.
What ignorance and what an insult to a man who lives for rugby and being South African.
Meyer, regardless of whether he continues as Bok coach, is a good man and passionate about wanting only the best for the Springboks. Which doesn’t necessarily mean his selections have been the best for Springbok rugby.
The abuse, though, said more of the rugby supporter than it did of the coach.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Only after the Bok squad announcement do you get a sense that Markie is not in HM’s corner 100% anymore. The last sentence came as a timely warning for us all.
Meyer banking on battered warriors(07. 09. 15)
Meyer has spoken of passion, of desire and of patriotism. He says the players will die for the cause.
I’d have been more inspired and more of a believer if he has said he had players who wanted to live for a triumph. After all, it is a sport. No one should be thinking a life is worth saving a try.
Patriotism alone won’t win it for the Springboks. And for all the passion among the supporters, the Boks in 2015 don’t have the results or the all-round player pedigree to match those who refuse to believe the Boks can lose World Cups.
Folks, the Boks do lose World Cups. In fact, they have lost more than they have wo
@ Nama:
Shame, if the vitriol after our disgraceful loss to Argentina upset him, I hope he went into hibernation after our glorious loss to Japan 😀
@ BrumbiesBoy:
No man.
I have not hear any ANC official tell HM WHO to pick. That never happened.
@ nortie:
Not our Markie.
He know writes of journalist giving HM a free ride the last four years. Conveniently forgetting that he was on of them.
one of them
@ Nama:
We all know him, he writes for reactions mostly, and with the current crowd frequenting SARugbymag his contradictions are like honey to the bees
“Meyer’s been given a free ride by his administration and the South African media has treated him with generosity and with blind faith.
No other Bok coach has enjoyed this kind of support. But that joyride has ended, and so too must Meyer’s four-year tenure, regardless of how the World Cup plays out.
The Boks can still qualify for the play-offs, but only if Meyer gives the nation an apology that is an act and not meaningless post-match words.
His old men are finished. The Bok team that lost to Japan was the most experienced, by number of Test caps, in our history. But there is a difference between an experienced player and an old player.
Japan’s youthfulness, energy and vibrancy made those old daddies in the Bok set-up, notably De Villiers and Matfield, look like pensioners.”
Compare to just a month or two ago.
@ nortie:
Why is nobody commenting over there? What keeps a site like that going when nobody is commenting? Sure people who want to place ads look at that.
@ Nama:
Where, at SARugbymag?
Huge amounts of comments there, mostly from FB though, but it’s hard to read the rubbish they post
@ nortie:
There are some ignorant comments there…. coming off fb….the sane ones are ol keolites and that says something 😉
@ Te Rangatira:
For sure, but I just can’t get myself to sift through them. 😀
I usually close after reading the first 10 or so, it really is a free for all
@ nortie:
OK. Do you have to register to see the comments because whenever I read an article there, it would say: comments (0).
@ Nama:
I think some of us registered when Keo was still operational and converted, but I don’t think it is necessary.
Strange that you get shown comments 0, it’s like a feeding frenzy there most days
@ nortie:
Maybe Mark banned me for calling him a “passer”.
@ Nama:
Ha ha
Your reputation precedes you.
Believe me, you are better off not being able to read the comments, you will feel like climbing into your computer to moer some posters 😀
Think Bakkies v Pops, HG v pretty much anyone, Capo v pretty much anyone, Pedi v any shark supporter and times it by 1000
@ Nama:
Actually, HG would be in our camp now 😀
Only when it comes to HM though
He and Grant are like peas in a pod now 😆
Imagine HG and Macro arguing the merits of HM as a Bok coach
@ nortie:
A great script, that.
Macro vs HG during the test season.
Dan kan hulle weer hand om die blaas staan as dit SR tyd is. The Bull and the Bullshark.
@ Nama:
😀 BullShark, ha ha
As dit teen die WP is dan sal hulle so na aan mekaar wees soos HG en ET, mekaar lone dove noem 😉
@ nortie:
Daai was nou ook vir jou ‘n anderster liefdesverhouding…Lone Dove…hahaha…
Sien hulle is ook nog tight as ET op R365 sy verskyning maak. Onder ‘n ander naam natuulik.
Nag. Slaap lekker.
Ek gaan nou inkruip.
Everybody is saying that the Boks used old BB tactics in the game against Japan.
Really?
Using Schalk as the first or second receiver and then trying to play quick second phase from there was pure Stormers rugby as played under Alister Coetsee.
A Rassie Erasmus tactic perhaps?
Regarding the current situation with Heynecke Meyer……..
I feel very sorry for the man. Clearly he achieved his dream of coaching the Boks and is very passionate about the team.
It is just unfortunate that he is weak and unable to impose himself strongly. Examples of this are;
– surrounding himself with lightweight yes-men in the coaching group
– flip-flopping on his game plan (from traditional, attritional Bok rugby to basketball-style flip passes) according to public demand
– relying on old bulls/boks to carry the team through a RWC
– trying to bullshit the public that a last-minute change or event was in his “planning” all along. This is the most irksome – particularly the story about our last minute win against the AB’s – absolute horseshit.
What SARU needs to do is install a hard man within the Bok management. Let HM continue to coach and motivate the players (I believe he is a good man manager) but have another man there to make sure that the best personnel are on board, that he speaks to the press and that selection is not the sole responsibility of HM.
If something like this is not done, then, sorry, HM must go. International rugby is a bridge too far for him and his lightie assistants. Hell, even a foreign assignment (Saracens) was too much.
@ Charo:
It won’t be long until the Chinese start beating you 😆 😆
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