Who is The greatest winger of all time?

[Tadginator]

I want to see who the greatest winger is or was and then learn from what they do. Please say who they play/played for

 

[Groundhog]

you know the awnser japans daisuke ohata

 

[Jeff Donovan]

Gerald Davies

Started off as a centre but moved to the wing.Part of the great Welsh side of the seventies! Played for Cardiff RFC & London Welsh. Didn't tour with the Lions to S Africa in 74 because of his view on apartheid.

 

[Dizzy]

well, judging on top form ever, there are numerous options. The great David Campese of Australia, Shane Williams of Wales, Daisuke Ohata of Japan[although I don't think he would have been very much of a threat playing with the top sides in the world.

But one winger that stood out and changed the face of wingers all over was,..

Mr. Jonah Lomu of NZ. He had it all, the speed to burn people off, the power to bunt people off and the combination of his quick step and BOOM!! fend to the face, face to the dirt....

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Gerald Davies

Started off as a centre but moved to the wing.Part of the great Welsh side of the seventies! Played for Cardiff RFC & London Welsh. Didn't tour with the Lions to S Africa in 74 because of his view on apartheid.

Little story.

Davies toured South Africa in 1968 with the Lions. He got a phonecall from his black South African friend who had been studying with him at Loughborough University. When Davies asked to meet up with him his mate said no, when he offered to go round his Davies was told this would not be a good idea. They eventually met in the hotel gardens. Davies was then told by his mate he was not allowed to teach white students because of the apartheid regime, and was thinking of going to teach in Canada. Only problem, was that the apartheid government would be unwilling to grant him a visa to leave the country. Davies on tour saw the regime first hand and refused to tour there ever again.

Also he declared himself unavailable first because he was leaving his teaching post at Christ's Hospital in Sussex for a post in the Sport Council of Wales in Cardiff. He felt he could not ask for 3 months leave and then resign from his post and go and tour with the Lions.

When Clive Rees injured his hand. Davies was called upon. He first accepted the request but within an hour he rang back up and said he was again unavailable.


Also on a sidenote: Lot of people will say Lomu (he is a great btw) because in reality they have never seen some of the greats of yester year and will always say the game now was tougher and the game was different.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Captain Underwood

 

[best_fullback]

Also on a sidenote: Lot of people will say Lomu (he is a great btw) because in reality they have never seen some of the greats of yester year and will always say the game now was tougher and the game was different.

Yeah thats it. Its always an impossible comparison to make between todays game vs amateur game, how good players back then genuinely were, and how they would cope in todays game. But thats not really the point - this should be objectively "who is, in your opinion, the greatest winger of all time?" - regardless of whether the would be as effective today or not.

Personally, I feel I could never pick someone from the 70s or 80s because I have only been told about them, and only occasionally seen clips of them: Campese, Evans, Kirwan, Blanco etc. I prefer with questions such as this to rephrase the question to "who is the greatest winger in my lifetime?"

To that question I would have to answer Rupeni Caucaunibuca. Eventhough he is/was a drunk, fat, lazy stoner and has pretty much ruined what his career could have been, he was absolutely amazing in the 2003 RWC. His pace was something else, and his step was superb. IMO maybe didn't make as much of an impact and Lomu, as Lomu really marked the transition from amateur to profession, but if Caucau had of kept himself at the level he was at, he could have been the best winger of all time. Shame really. One of my biggest inspirations when I was growing up (his rugby ability that is, not his use of marijuana)

 

[King_D'Arcy]

Anthony Horgan

 

[Aedaphon]

you know the awnser japans daisuke ohata

Another Ohata fan :lol:

It's hard to define the 'greatest' winger as there have been so many great and memorable players. Also they tend to fall into categories and aren't necessarily directly comparable:

Speed and Agility- The guys that'll step their way through a defence and make it look effortless, in the style of Gerald Davies, John Kirwan, Robinson, Shane Williams etc.

Speed and Power- More common nowadays but really first seen with Lomu, then Caucaunibau (nowadays Gear, Tuilagi, Vainokolo etc..)

Pure Speed- Will just burn anyone on the outside if let loose, such as Chavangha, Habana, Ngwenya et al.

 

[nickdnz]

I'd have to go with Lomu. No player in any other country or time had as much impact as Jonah Lomu in his prime. He was a beast that rugby had never seen before and since. He is to rugby what Jordan was to basketball.

Some people say Caucaunibuca, but he never really played enough test rugby to be considered anywhere near the best, and he only really had a few stellar seasons.

Rokocoko in 2003 was arguably the best any winger had ever played, scoring 17 test tries in a year, many of which were magic, but he has since not shown the same form from about 2007 onwards.

Howlett has been the most consistantly good winger, but I'd say he is very much like Underwood, consistant and scores a lot of tries, but not really many magic moments.

I always thought Kirwan was a bit over rated. Scored quite a few tries, but he wasn't all that quick for a winger and would get smoked today. He had a good rugby brain though.

Jeff Wilson was a very well skilled winger (much like Cory Jane). He had a lot of pace, good finishing and was an important part of a back three with stars. Set up more oppertunites than he scored, so in my opinion he was the AB's best right wing.

Daisuke Ohata is good, but there is no doubt his record was so good because of poor competition. We will never get to see if he would be as good playing in a good competition.

David Campese is very over rated. Great try scoring record, but mainly put down to playing so many tests. He revolutionized the goose step, but he did too many stupid things in a game for me to consider him the best.

Shane Williams I feel will go down as one of the greatest. He's got a pretty good try scoring record for number of tests, and because of how marketable a 4ft 12kg man who scores lots of tries is, he has to have a great legac. I just hope he scored more tries than Campese.

 

[tgd]

this thread should be ***led who was the second best winger of all time!!!! there is no player like lomu and i doubt there ever will be.... freak!!!

caucau distant second

 

[ranger]

In re-reading the first post, the guy asked who the best winger of all time was so he could learn from them, so that rules out Lomu as his positioning was very unorthadox and no amount of watching game footage and running similar lines will turn you into a 6'5 120kg monster.

I would probably go with Howlett considering. His workrate and ability to read the game was second to none. Just watch his decision making in deciding when he could come off his wing looking for work without compromising the line, his option taking in support (Run wide for the scoring pass/come close for the offload/ when to cut/ when to forget about recieving the ball and concentrate on securing possesion once the teammate was tackled), and his reading of the attack in deciding when to rush for the spot tackle, and when to trust the inside man.
Defensively i would rate him as the best. He was always in the right spot on d and even though he wasn't too powerful but he could lay on some big hits through technique and precision timing.

 

[nickdnz]

In re-reading the first post, the guy asked who the best winger of all time was so he could learn from them, so that rules out Lomu as his positioning was very unorthadox and no amount of watching game footage and running similar lines will turn you into a 6'5 120kg monster.

I would probably go with Howlett considering. His workrate and ability to read the game was second to none. Just watch his decision making in deciding when he could come off his wing looking for work without compromising the line, his option taking in support (Run wide for the scoring pass/come close for the offload/ when to cut/ when to forget about recieving the ball and concentrate on securing possesion once the teammate was tackled), and his reading of the attack in deciding when to rush for the spot tackle, and when to trust the inside man.
Defensively i would rate him as the best. He was always in the right spot on d and even though he wasn't too powerful but he could lay on some big hits through technique and precision timing.

Good call on both accounts. If you have any trouble finding footage of Howlett, I'd say a more recent winger which has many of the same attributes would be Enalgnd's Chris Ashton, especially focusing on support play.

 

[ranger]

Good call on both accounts. If you have any trouble finding footage of Howlett, I'd say a more recent winger which has many of the same attributes would be Enalgnd's Chris Ashton, especially focusing on support play.

Closer to home, Corey Jane does a pretty good job of it. Hes not as involved at rucktime though

 

[smar]

Shane Williams and Lomu

 

[Groundhog]

i have no doubt that lomu was an unbelievable player but he was also a bit overrated in my opinion

 

[The_Wol]

Berrick Barnes


Oh wait I thought you said whiner.
He does have the greatest whining face.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Jonah Lomu, Shane Williams, Gerald Davies. As said, Ohata and Campese had better try scoring records, but the four I've picked out had all-round games as well as finishing ability, which is something all of them all posses as well. While Lomu was never a man who ran brilliant support lines, he could sniff out a try from anywhere, and just had that love of scoring that all the best players need. Shane has played 9 and 10 for the Ospreys/Neath, and it shows in the number of tries he sets up as well as scores. A prime example of his talent being the fact that he topped both the 'Most Assists' and 'Most Tries' lists in last years' Six Nations.

I'm also a big fan of Jason Robinson and Tommy Bowe, the latter is who I tend to model large parts of my game on if you're looking for a role model, as he just does the basics very well and runs excellent angles.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

No question James O'Connor also the best 10 12 and 15 of all time

 

[Aedaphon]

No question James O'Connor also the best 10 12 and 15 of all time

He's not even attained the ability to grow a beard yet, save it until he's at least mid-20s. He is a superb back but I think it's a little early to call him the greatest winger of all time (not that he doesn't have the potential)