Rugby Freaks
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I'd suggest Gregor Townsend deserves a mention. Some of the stuff he did was pretty outrageous
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Not sure I'd put Lomu in freakish skill/ability, he was just a phenom, large and fast with good skills, but not freakish IMO.
For me, Cully is possibly the closest to Rupeni in terms of freakish ability, Goldie near the top too, and the fact we had Goldie, Lomu & Cully at the same time!!
I'd put Blanco & Campo up there too for outsides.
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Not sure I'd put Lomu in freakish skill/ability, he was just a phenom, large and fast with good skills, but not freakish IMO.
For me, Cully is possibly the closest to Rupeni in terms of freakish ability, Goldie near the top too, and the fact we had Goldie, Lomu & Cully at the same time!!
I'd put Blanco & Campo up there too for outsides.
@taniwharugby said in Rugby Freaks:
Not sure I'd put Lomu in freakish skill/ability, he was just a phenom, large and fast with good skills, but not freakish IMO.
For me, Cully is possibly the closest to Rupeni in terms of freakish ability, Goldie near the top too, and the fact we had Goldie, Lomu & Cully at the same time!!
I'd put Blanco & Campo up there too for outsides.
Lomu had a two metre sidestep FFS!
His best attribute by far was balance though. Addthat to his other abilities and he was a freak.Goldie, Lomu and Cully? sounds like a good back three
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Lots of Fijians being mentioned, I'm going to add Serevi.
Sevens is (at least used to be) a great arena for freakish abilities to shine with Jonah and Cully being good examples.
Serevi was one of those players that had you on edge whenever he had the ball. They'd be seemingly no options in front of him but he'd dance around on the spot for a bit, then having worked out a path, take off through the defence and dot down.
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Rupeni and Lomu are the stand outs. Cullen great player, amazingly quick, ran great lines but not in the same league of freakishness for me. I’d say Blanco an honourable third.
@catogrande said in Rugby Freaks:
Rupeni and Lomu are the stand outs. Cullen great player, amazingly quick, ran great lines but not in the same league of freakishness for me. I’d say Blanco an honourable third.
WTF, Cullen was easily as freakish as those two. Ran great lines is barely scratching the surface, he could change direction and not lose pace as good as anyone (including Rupeni).
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People also forget that Cullen wasn't a big guy but was strong and could bust through tackles. For context, he was smaller than TJP.
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@bovidae said in Rugby Freaks:
People also forget that Cullen wasn't a big guy but was strong and could bust through tackles. For context, he was smaller than TJP.
Really? Mind you TJP might have been measured with that funny ruler used for for Ardie.
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People also forget that Cullen wasn't a big guy but was strong and could bust through tackles. For context, he was smaller than TJP.
@bovidae wasnt he reputed to be able to bench >140kg or something ridiculous for a guy his size, especially in an era when rugby players were only just embracing professionalism.
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Good call on Jones. I also take your points re Cullen but would say they weren’t freakish. Other guys had those attributes, just not all of them.
@catogrande said in Rugby Freaks:
Good call on Jones. I also take your points re Cullen but would say they weren’t freakish. Other guys had those attributes, just not all of them.
Richie, yes agree, what made him different was the motor and between the ears.
Cullen had physical gifts unmatched by anyone i have seen. Not the "huge islander who can move" gifts, but incredible acceleration, top end pace, the ability to change direction at pace, and he was freakishly strong for his size. There's never been another like him to have those attributes all to that level.
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We're concentrating on backs, and of the forwards MJ has been correctly mentioned, but Zinny would have to be another forward, had all the skills of a back in a forward's frame.
