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Two Rugby World Cup winners among 12 tighthead props inducted into the RugbyPass Hall of Fame
By Sam Smith
The third wave of inductees into the RugbyPass Hall of Fame have been revealed as the finest tighthead props ever to grace the game were recognised on Wednesday.
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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 third induction announcement, from which 12 of rugby’s best tighthead props have been unveiled as inductees.
Among the headline names include two World Cup-winning No 3s in the form of All Blacks centurion Owen Franks and former Springboks star Jannie du Plessis.
Franks is a two-time winner of rugby’s greatest prize, having claimed the Webb Ellis Cup on back-to-back occasions in 2011 and 2015, while Du Plessis was part of the World Cup-winning Springboks side of 2007.
As one of the new inductees, Du Plessis joins his brother Bismarck as a Hall of Famer after the ex-Springboks hooker was named as one of 13 new additions to the RugbyPass Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
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Du Plessis is the only South African to be included among the latest induction of players, while Franks is one of three New Zealanders alongside Carl Hayman and Kees Meeuws.
All four players are accompanied by SANZAAR counterpart and Wallabies centurion Sekope Kepu as the southern hemisphere representatives in the latest induction announcement.
Other inductees include current Ireland star Tadhg Furlong, former Ireland veteran John Hayes, Welsh duo Adam Jones and Graham Price, and French pair Nicolas Mas and Robert Paparemborde.
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Also included is retired cult hero Martin Castrogiovanni, who becomes the first Italian player to be named as a RugbyPass Hall of Fame inductee.
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.
Personally I don’t think current players should be inducted, but it’s a nice idea, but does it not detract from official World Rugby hall of famers? Not sure how I feel about any of it really. I mean really we could all make a list of great players and put it online. It’s just some opinions. Anyways I like the idea but rather call it. Rugbypass greatest players or something
Hi Chris, this is the RugbyPass Hall of Fame by name and is by no means designed to detract from any other opinion based halls of fame. Everyone gets to have their say in the RugbyPass Hall of Fame too, by voting or letting us know in the comments who you think we should induct in future. The doors will always remain open to more rugby heroes.