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Top 10 International Points Scorers (Tier 1)
By Jack Tunney
10) Michael Lynagh – 911 points
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Nowadays known as the dad of Louis Lynagh, the silver-haired parent used to be known as one of the greatest players on the planet.
Michael Lynagh was known for his phenomenal tactical play as well as his incredible kicking talents. It was these abilities that helped his national side Australia clinch the 1991 world cup.
Queensland was where he spent a large part of his career. It was only once retiring from international rugby in 1995 that Lynagh travelled to the Northern Hemisphere to have stints with both Benetton Treviso and Saracens.
9) Andrew Mehrtens – 967 points
Prior to the great Daniel Carter, Andrew Mehrtens was argued by some to be the greatest fly-half ever produced by New Zealand. He had incredible skill, vision, pinpoint accurate kicking, and appeared to make those long accurate passes look easy.
Mehrtens had plenty of stiff competition, not least from the likes of Carlos Spencer in his prime, and later from Dan Carter. Despite the incredibly talented players vying for his position, he held on with a steel grip and achieved almost a millennium of points for his country.
A fan favourite, Mehrtens played for some fantastic teams over the years. Predominantly at The Crusaders, he also had a spell over at the colourful English side Harlequins, before heading over the English Channel to France. It was here he would turn out for big hitters Toulon and Racing Metro 92, before finally finishing off his long and successful career in the French second division with Beziers.
8) Stephen Jones – 970 points
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After years of benefiting from the boot of Neil Jenkins, Welsh fans were stuck wondering what their beloved side was going to do once he retired. They needed not worry though as the incredibly talented Stephen Jones was next along the pipeline to orchestrate Wales into one of its finest-ever eras.
Jones spent the majority of his career playing for the Llanelli Scarlets, which is where he honed the skills we saw on the international stage.
Despite having many world-class fly halves to compete with, the former captain largely kept hold of his international starting jersey and went on to achieve over 100 caps.
7) Diego Dominguez – 970 points
Italy have always struggled to find a suitable fly-half to fill the role that Diego Dominquez left. Arguably Italy’s greatest-ever fly-half, and one of their greatest-ever players, Dominquez was ruthless from the boot achieving an average of 13.29 points per game.
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It was not Italy that Dominguez started his international time with though, he was born in Córdoba, Argentina. It was here that the little magician learned his trade, and in 1989 he made his Argentinian debut in games against Chile and Paraguay.
After moving around, Dominquez settled in the Italian city of Milan, the country his grandmother was from. It was through this connection that he was able to turn out for the Azzuri. As a result, he helped bring Italy from world rugby minnows to a Tier 1 nation and into the Six Nations.
6) Johnny Sexton – 1011 points
Having come through as Ronan O’Gara’s understudy, there was plenty to be excited about when it came to the young Johnny Sexton. The first part of his international career saw a feisty battle between the two players, both playing for rival Irish teams and both fighting for the same shirt in the national side.
Eventually the younger Sexton won the starting birth over the aging O’Gara, leading to well over a decade of unmatched dominance from the Leinster playmaker. Having won the World Rugby Player of the Year in 2018, Sexton has gone on to establish himself as one of Ireland’s finest-ever players.
Despite being 38 when the 2023 world cup comes around, there will be very few who would bet against the Dublin man overtaking his former rival.
5) Ronan O’Gara – 1083 points
One of the feistiest, most intelligent, and most talented fly-halves of all time, O’Gara is a true leader on and off the field.
O’Gara spent his entire professional career playing for Munster, teaming up in a lethal half-back partnership with scrum-half, Peter Stringer.
Despite an initial tug of the Irish number ten shirt between himself and David Humphries, O’Gara went on to win 128 international caps and appear on three British and Irish Lions tours.
Fly-half is probably the most complicated and intense position on the field, but O’Gara was able to read the game like so few others. It was this incredible game management that kept him without serious opposition for the shirt for so many years.
4) Neil Jenkins – 1090 points
Jenkins had one of the most accurate boots in world rugby during his playing days, notching over 1000 points for Wales.
Despite his obvious talents from the boot, it was not an easy start to international life for the legendary fly-half. Wales have always had the luxury of world-class number tens in their side, so Jenkins had a lot to live up to.
In previous years the Welsh were fortunate enough to experience players such as Barry John, Phil Bennett, and Cliff Morgan in the heydays of the men in red. So, when Jenkins stepped up it was noted that he was missing certain aspects of his game.
With this, under the tutelage of Graham Henry, Jenkins went on to develop his tackling, passing, and running skills to become one of the finest ever fly-halves in world rugby.
3) Owen Farrell – 1114 points
Criminally underrated, Owen Farrell has established himself as one of the greatest players to have ever pulled on the white jersey of England.
Primarily deployed as a fly-half for club side Saracens, England has used Farrell more recently as a playmaking inside-centre. The idea is that this allows for more attacking-minded players like George Ford and Marcus Smith to benefit from Farrell’s tactical nouse on their outside.
The son of rugby league legend Andy Farrell, Owen is known for his pinpoint accurate kicking displays from the tee and his thorough knowledge of the game.
2) Jonny Wilkinson – 1246 points
Known for his dedicated work rate, leadership skills, and incredible kicking abilities, Wilkinson personified the position of fly-half.
Due to his exploits in the 2003 Rugby World Cup, Wilkinson inspired a whole generation of young English rugby players.
Retiring in 2014 Wilkinson ended his career with an English Premiership Rugby title, a Top 14 title, two Heineken Champions Cups, a Rugby World Cup, and multiple Six Nations Championships, all alongside a plethora of individual honours.
1) Dan Carter – 1598 points
The perfect 10. Dan Carter finally retired in 2020 after a career that saw him become arguably the greatest fly-half of all time.
He was known for his incredible game management, kicking skills, smooth handling, and running ability.
Carter played the majority of his club career for the Crusaders, but he had stints over in France and Japan during the latter stages of his playing days.
The three-time World Rugby Player of the Year holds the record for the most international points scored of all time, as well as multiple other personal and team accolades.
