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Dan Carter and Jonny Wilkinson among new No 10s inducted into RugbyPass Hall of Fame
By Sam Smith
The 10th wave of inductees into the RugbyPass Hall of Fame have been revealed as the finest first-fives ever to grace the game were recognised on Friday.
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Home to the greatest rugby players of all-time, the RugbyPass Hall of Fame acknowledges and recognises the outstanding efforts of the trailblazers from the amateur era through to the global stars who light up the sport to this day.
The amalgamation of rugby’s top players from the amateur and professional eras has been reflected in the RugbyPass Hall of Fame’s first-ever induction announcement, from which 12 of rugby’s best first-fives have been unveiled as inductees.
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Among the headline names inducted into the RugbyPass Hall of Fame include World Cup-winning playmakers such as All Blacks duo Dan Carter and Beauden Barrett, Wallabies pair Michael Lynagh and Stephen Larkham, English icon Jonny Wilkinson, and ex-Springboks star Joel Stransky.
Of those six players, Carter, who was voted by fans on social media as World Rugby’s Player of the Decade, is the only first-five to have won two World Cups, having done so on back-to-back occasions in 2011 and 2015.
Barrett, a two-time World Rugby Player of the Year, was part of the 2015 All Blacks squad that reclaimed the Webb Ellis Cup.
His match-sealing try in that year’s final against the Wallabies converted by Carter in one of the last acts of his test career was a tournament-defining moment, but perhaps the most iconic World Cup final moment of all-time belongs to Wilkinson.
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The 2003 World Rugby Player of the Year was responsible with delivering England its first world title 18 years ago when he scored a match-winning drop goal in the dying seconds of extra-time to beat the Wallabies 20-17.
That result denied Australia from adding a third Webb Ellis Cup to its record, with Lynagh and Larkham playing key roles in the country’s previous two successes in 1991 and 1999, respectively.
Stransky, meanwhile, enjoyed some World Cup-winning heroics of his own when he slotted a drop goal in injury time to beat the All Blacks 15-12 and secure the Springboks with a world title at the first time of asking in front of their home fans in 1995.
The six players are joined by an array of other mercurial pivots in the new wave of RugbyPass Hall of Fame inductees, including 2018 World Rugby Player of the Year Johnny Sexton and England centurion Owen Farrell.
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Retired All Blacks star Andrew Mehrtens has also been admitted, as has Springboks great Naas Botha, while Jonathan Davies and Barry John act as the sole Welsh representatives among the new inductees.
Of all those included in the RugbyPass Hall of Fame, only the players with the most votes in each position will make the Fan 1st XV, a team made up of only the best players ever to have played rugby.
The door remains open for other players to become RugbyPass Hall of Famers, so register now to have your say and vote for your favourite inductee in the Fan 1st XV.
Current RugbyPass Hall of Fame Fan 1st XV
1. Os du Randt (South Africa, 1994-2007)
2. Sean Fitzpatrick (New Zealand, 1986-1997)
3. Owen Franks (New Zealand, 2009-2019)
4. Eben Etzebeth (South Africa, 2012-present)
5. Victor Matfield (South Africa, 2001-2015)
6. Jerome Kaino (New Zealand, 2004-2017)
7. Richie McCaw (New Zealand, 2001-2015)
8. Mamuka Gorgodze (Georgia, 2003-2019)
9. Aaron Smith (New Zealand, 2012-present)
10. Induction 10.12.2021
11. Induction 13.12.20221
12. Induction 14.12.2021
13. Induction 15.12.2021
14. Induction 16.12.2021
15. Induction 17.12.2021
Coach: 20.12.2021
Referee: 21.12.2021
Stadium: 22.12.2021
