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Top rugby world cup points scorers
By Jack Tunney
10) Gonzalo Quesada – 135
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The Argentine fly-half spent much of his playing career in France, before eventually hanging up his boots and making his way in the French coaching world.
A very talented kicker, Gonzalo Quesada was nicknamed Speedy Gonzalo due to the extraordinary amount of time it took for him to slot his kicks. It was due to this composure that Quesada finished as the top points scorer of the 1999 rugby world cup with 102 points.
9) Frédéric Michalak – 136
The French maverick was a hugely problematic player to come up against. He could play either half-back position, and as well as being lethal with the boot, he had incredible open-play vision.
Michalak scored the majority of his world cup points back in 2003, where his total tally came to a rather impressive 101 points. This was marginally behind the eventual world cup winner, Jonny Wilkinson.
In 2015 Michalak become France’s all-time top scorer, retiring from international rugby later that year a good 56 points ahead of Christophe Lamaison.
8) Chris Paterson – 140
Scotland’s most reliable kicker during the 2000s, between 11th August 2007 and 7th June 2008 Chris Patterson kicked 36 consecutive goals to break the world record at the time.
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Such was his feat, Patterson was able to complete an entire world cup and a six nations campaign without missing a single kick.
He holds the record number of points for Scotland with 809 achieved in his 109 caps, which was also a record at the time.
7) Handré Pollard – 162
The only player on this list to still be playing, Handré Pollard marshaled his South African teammates to victory in the 2019 rugby world cup. It was during this world cup that Pollard cemented himself on this list, with 69 individual points he found himself top of the scoring charts.
At the age of just 28, and having just secured himself a move to English champions Leicester Tigers, Pollard could certainly become a true legend of the game over the next few years.
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Pollard certainly has at least one, and probably two more world cups in him, so challenging the top of this list could be a genuine possibility.
6) Andrew Mehrtens – 163
Regarded by many as one of the most naturally gifted players the All Blacks have ever produced, Andrew Mehrtens struck up a 9-year international career that saw him score almost 1000 points.
Mehrtens featured in both the 1995 and the 1999 world cup, but sadly missed out in 2003 due to a spate of injuries.
It was in 1995 that a young Mehrtens missed a drop goal in the world cup final, that with mere minutes on the clock would have won the match and the competition. Despite this, he went on to be revered as one of the All Blacks greatest ever.
5) Grant Fox – 170
A member of the inaugural world cup winning squad of New Zealand, Grant Fox was a mainstay of the national squad right up until his retirement.
One of the most well-known fly-halves of all time, Fox is often cited as the pioneer of modern goal-kicking. His technique consisted of leaning the ball forward when placed for a kick. This style can enable a more accurate and longer kick and has been adopted by many world-class players since.
4) Dan Carter – 191
The perfect 10. Thought by many to be one of the greatest players of all time, thought by some to be the very greatest.
Carter turned out in four world cups, with his final one in 2015 being his greatest accomplishment with victory over rivals Australia in the final.
It was arguably Carter’s drop goal to take the All Blacks clear that proved to be the pivotal point in the game.
3) Michael Lynagh – 195
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.
Lynagh was known for his phenomenal tactical play as well as his incredible kicking talents. It was these abilities of his that helped his national side Australia clinch the 1991 world cup.
With one conversion and two penalties in the final, Lynagh was able to help his teammates see off the English to win only the second-ever world cup.
2) Gavin Hastings – 227
Another man known simply as ‘dad’ in the rugby world now, Gavin Hastings is quite probably the most famous Scottish rugby player of all time.
At the time of his retirement, he was Scotland’s all-time leading points scorer with 667 points to his name.
Ruthless from the boot, the place-kicking full-back found himself near the top of the individual points scorers in all three world cups he was a part of. This was despite Scotland having never made it further than the quarter-finals.
1) Jonny Wilkinson – 277
The most famous English rugby player of all time. Catapulted into the stratosphere of international recognition after his heroics in 2003, Wilkinson fought through injury after injury to take England to the final again in 2007 before hanging up his international boots in 2011.
Pinpoint accurate from the kicking tee, as well as being an absolute drop goal menace, Wilkinson tops this list by a large margin.
