{"id":574538,"date":"2026-05-09T10:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T10:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/574538\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T10:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T10:25:12","slug":"piers-morgan-named-his-all-time-xv-without-jonny-wilkinson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/574538\/","title":{"rendered":"Piers Morgan named his all-time XV without Jonny Wilkinson"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Piers Morgan\u00a0has revealed his all-time greatest rugby XV \u2014 and, unsurprisingly, the selection has sparked heated debate among rugby fans.<\/p>\n<p>\u2b50 Save us to your\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/4bziEdo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google Favourites\u00a0<\/a>for nonstop RUCK content!<\/p>\n<p>While the side is packed with legendary names from across the rugby world, supporters were quick to question the omission of icons such as\u00a0Joost van der Westhuizen,\u00a0Jonny Wilkinson\u00a0and\u00a0Willie John McBride.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the full XV Morgan selected.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/channel\/AbYd2l05pp1bM_Ix\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Join RUCK\u2019s Instagram broadcast channel\u00a0<\/a>and get the latest rugby news straight to your phone.<\/p>\n<p>Loosehead Prop \u2013\u00a0Os du Randt<\/p>\n<p>One of the most feared scrummagers in rugby history, du Randt became a cornerstone of Springbok rugby across two eras. The South African powerhouse first exploded onto the global stage during the 1995 Rugby World Cup before returning to lift the trophy again in 2007.<\/p>\n<p>Renowned for his brutal strength and tireless work rate, he was rarely dominated by opposition forwards throughout his career.<\/p>\n<p>DID YOU KNOW?<\/p>\n<p>In 2000, aged just 27, du Randt suffered injuries that kept him out of rugby for nearly three years.<\/p>\n<p>Hooker \u2013\u00a0Sean Fitzpatrick<\/p>\n<p>Widely regarded as one of the greatest hookers of all time, Fitzpatrick combined aggression, leadership and outstanding technical ability.<\/p>\n<p>The legendary All Black earned 92 caps for New Zealand, captaining his country on 51 occasions.<\/p>\n<p>DID YOU KNOW?<\/p>\n<p>He was part of two iconic All Blacks front rows \u2014 first alongside Steve McDowell and Richard Loe, then later with Craig Dowd and Olo Brown.<\/p>\n<p>Tighthead Prop \u2013\u00a0Graham Price<\/p>\n<p>Welsh legend Price became famous for scoring a sensational 70-yard try on debut against France.<\/p>\n<p>A key figure in Wales\u2019 Grand Slam triumphs in 1976 and 1978, he also toured three times with the British &amp; Irish Lions.<\/p>\n<p>DID YOU KNOW?<\/p>\n<p>In 2012, Price appeared as himself in the British comedy-drama TV show\u00a0Stella.<\/p>\n<p>Lock \u2013\u00a0Martin Johnson<\/p>\n<p>England icon Johnson remains one of the most respected captains rugby has ever seen.<\/p>\n<p>He famously led England to Rugby World Cup glory in 2003 and became the first player to captain the British &amp; Irish Lions on two separate tours.<\/p>\n<p>DID YOU KNOW?<\/p>\n<p>Johnson received an OBE in 1997 before later being awarded a CBE after England\u2019s 2003 World Cup triumph.<\/p>\n<p>Lock \u2013\u00a0John Eales<\/p>\n<p>Nicknamed \u201cNobody\u201d because \u201cnobody\u2019s perfect,\u201d Eales came remarkably close to being exactly that.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian great won two Rugby World Cups and possessed one of the most complete skill sets rugby has ever seen \u2014 including elite goal-kicking ability despite playing in the second row.<\/p>\n<p>DID YOU KNOW?<\/p>\n<p>Eales also played first-grade cricket for Queensland University.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruck.co.uk\/piers-morgan-named-his-all-time-xv-without-jonny-wilkinson\/2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CONTINUES ON PAGE TWO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Like this:<\/p>\n<p>Like Loading&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"sd-link-color\"\/>\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Piers Morgan\u00a0has revealed his all-time greatest rugby XV \u2014 and, unsurprisingly, the selection has sparked heated debate among&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-574538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}