Two England legends – record men’s caps holder Ben Youngs and centurion Dan Cole – have revealed their top 10 list of the hardest rugby players of all time.
Asked by a viewer of their For The Love Of Rugby show to name their all-time ‘triple hard b***ards’. Youngs began by explaining what a THB meant.
“For those who don’t know what a ‘triple hard b***ard’ is, they are not just hard, they are not just double hard, they are triple hard and that’s a tough category to be fair,” he said before he and his old Leicester teammate Cole went on to unveil their 10-strong list featuring four South African players, two English and one from France, Namibia, Samoa and Tonga.
No player from leading nations such as New Zealand or Ireland were considered hard enough to make the cut, with the retired English duo instead naming Springboks at number eight, seven, five and one and also including representation from three minnow nations as well as England and France. Here is how their selection meeting unfolded:
“He has left that life behind…”
Cole: So, let’s start at 10. A controversial list. Who are we going to put at 10?
Youngs: I am going to put Julian White at 10 and the reasons why, I don’t want to test this theory, but he is now a farmer, looks after cattle. I saw him at the Leicester Christmas party with all our ex-boys. Had a good pint with him and he was on great form. I didn’t see any sign of aggression which means I think he has left that life behind.
Cole: He is one of our two English lads on the list. Who will go in at nine?
Youngs: I am going to put Courtney at nine. He is in France, living a great life at Brive drinking wine, family man. That sort of enforcement role is… I owe Courtney a huge amount to the way my body feels now thanks to him, but we are going to put Courts at nine. One of England’s greatest back-rowers, that is for sure.
Cole: He is renowned for big hits but in terms of being hard and jackalling and work rate and carrying and just mauling, doing the hard stuff, he was unbelievable. It’s tough for him at nine but top 10 is pretty good. I think we probably know who our top four are so we need to go five six, seven and eight and if we had to rank these guys in some sort of order it would be (Thierry) Dusautoir, (Duane) Vermeulen, Jasper Wiese and Eben Etzebeth is our five to eight.
Youngs: I’ll go Eben Etzebeth at eight and we all know how he plays and everything like that, but Dusautoir is your favourite player of all time and I can’t do that to you. Duane Vermeulen is arguably one of the best eights to have ever played, and Jasper we played with and he is horrible. For that reason alone, I am going to put Eben Etzebeth at eight.
Cole: I can see that. Seven, I am going to say should be Jasper Wiese. Played with him at Leicester. Unbelievably tough. Would carry into a brick wall and do it all day long. He is seventh, I would say.
Youngs: One of the hardest men I have ever played with, and also a great bloke as well. An absolute champion. Great on a beer, good fun but get him on a pitch, my gosh. Absolute animal. No.6, you alright with this? I’d say it’s Thierry Dusautoir and I’d have Duane Vermeulen at five.
Cole: It’s tough, it means a lot. If it was pound for pound, I reckon Thierry Dusautoir would be right up there because you look at these guys, Etzebeth has got the 120 kilos, Vermeulen is 120, 130, Jasper is 120. Dusautoir is not that size but in terms of pound for pound he’d be on top. But this isn’t a pound for pound, it’s an absolute list so I’ll allow it. Thierry gets six and Duane Vermeulen at five because he is a monster.
Youngs: Right, our top four, here it is. We have a choice of Chris Hala’ufia, Jacques Burger, Henry Tuilagi and Bakkies Botha. That is not easy to put them in order.
Cole: Fourth, probably the lesser-known name, Chris Hala’ufia. In terms of running around the corner against him, he of that four is the one I would least like to run against but the other guys, in terms of other stuff on the field, like clearing breakdowns and whacking, they are probably a bit ahead of him.
Youngs: Maybe people don’t know a huge amount about him because he spent most of his career banned or in the sin bin or red carded, so that’s why. Chris Hala’ufia is fourth. Third, I’ll put Jacques Burger in.
Cole: You only have to look at his face and see how flat it is to see where he was prepared to put that thing, would hit and have no fear of putting his body in the wrong places. We know him from Saracens. Internationally he played for Namibia and didn’t get that recognition but in terms of like being a Premiership player he is one of the best ever.
Youngs: Absolutely. Right, final two. Henry Tuilagi, Bakkies Botha. I know who I am picking No.1. I think I know who you will. So the Triple Hardest B***ard is: Bakkies Botha.
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Cole: I would agree. Two men you wouldn’t want to meet down a dark alley or on a rugby field most of the time.
Youngs: Do you think if he [Botha] could play in this era now, he could be as much of an enforcer as he was then?
Cole: Yes. There is different ways of doing it. The game has evolved but there will always be a place on the rugby field for somebody that just goes and hits things and makes it a physical contest and is prepared to put their body on the line. Bakkies Botha, I don’t think he ever got a red card.
He is physical and tough and there is clips of bits of afters and stuff but you can be hard and clear breakdowns and hard carrying a ball and just defensively be relentlessly horrible and don’t stop coming and if needs be there will be a fight but there is very little fighting in rugby nowadays but there are other ways of doing it.
Fighting is part of the THB but it’s not the only part. Those guys just won’t back down and that is the main thing. None of these would back down from a confrontation and that’s why they are there and why there will always be a place for them in the modern game.
For The Love Of Rugby – Ranking Rugby’s Hardest Players Of All Time
1. Bakkies Botha (South Africa)
2. Henry Tuilagi (Samoa)
3. Jacques Burger (Namibia)
4. Chris Hala’ufia (Tonga)
5. Duane Vermeulen (South Africa)
6. Thierry Dusautoir (France)
7. Jasper Wiese (South Africa)
8. Eben Etzebeth (South Africa)
9. Courtney Lawes (England)
10. Julian White (England)