Shelford ‘hardest player’
British rugby critic Stephen Jones has hailed former All Blacks captain Wayne Shelford as rugby’s greatest hard man.
And his fellow Sunday Times writer Stuart Barnes also has Shelford in his list as they continued their intriguing ‘‘top 10’’ series around international rugby.
While Jones has Shelford At No 1, Barnes places the rugged No 8 who famously had his scrotum stitched in a 1986 test against France in Nantes, at No 6.
Both had other All Blacks captains in their ratings – Jones put Sean Fitzpatrick at No 5 while Barnes had Richie McCaw at No 8.
‘‘The intimidating ‘Buck’ was completely free of instincts for selfpreservation, and apparently impervious to pain,’’ Jones noted of Shelford.
‘‘Probably the hardest man who ever played and terrifying even when leading the haka.
New Zealand missed his driven play when he retired in the early nineties, and remarkably he was in one piece when he did so.’’
Barnes had this to say about Shelford: ‘‘The Northampton and England contingent didn’t realise just how often they would say, ‘Buck says’. The All Black came to the East Midlands towards the end of his career but made the Gardens his own. Iron in the soul, this No 8 certainly had balls ...’’
Like Shelford, Fitzpatrick was never one to take a backward step and Jones couldn’t resist his inclusion, saying: ‘‘Fitzpatrick never once left the field to be replaced in 92 tests, had the coldeyed stare of the gunfighter, and he was at the time the ultimate test of the mettle of your own team’s front row. One of history’s greatest leaders.’’
McCaw was a bit more subtle,
Stephen Jones
Greatest hard men of rugby: 1 Wayne Shelford (NZ), 2 Jacques Burger (Namibia), 3 Gerard Cholley (France), 4 Mike Teague (England), 5 Sean Fitzpatrick (NZ), 6 Del Haines (Wales), 7 Ron Glasgow (Scotland), 8 Brian Lima (Samoa), 9 Andre Venter (South Africa), 10= Terry Cobner (Wales) and Mike Fry (England).
Stuart Barnes
Greatest hard men of rugby: 1 Gareth Chilcott (England), 2 Gerard Cholley (France), 3 Jonny Wilkinson (England), 4 Graham Price (Wales), 5 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa), 6 Wayne Shelford (NZ), 7 David Pocock (Australia), 8 Richie McCaw (NZ), 9 Scott Gibbs (Wales), 10 Jim Telfer (Scotland).
according to Barnes who labelled him ‘‘the silent rock’’ in the Sunday Times article.
‘‘He played the 2011 World Cup on one good leg, loaded with painkillers. Not a few minutes of the final, but the whole tournament. Never the most talented of All Blacks but here was a hardness chiselled out of New Zealand’s Southern Alps. The silent rock.’’
Barnes placed former England prop Gareth Chilcott at the top of his list.
Rugged French prop Gerard Cholley was the only player, apart from Shelford, to feature in the thoughts of both writers.
Jones wasn’t impressed with Barnes’ list that included Jonny Wilkinson, Scott Gibbs and Jim Telfer.
‘‘Hard men? Where are the true ruffians, the devils? This list comprises largely of choirboys, Stuart. Is it a rule that Richie McCaw must be in almost every one of your lists? I presume he’ll still be in when we go for the top ten goalkickers. Or top ten astronomers?’’ Jones wrote of Barnes’ compilation.