Glove-wearing fly-halves, Masked Singer contestants and grass-roots All Blacks: Here are the 12 greatest old school players of the professional era!
Rugby World pays tribute to a dozen players from the pro era that embody the amateur spirit
Bulging biceps, calculated macros and record Bronco tests – professionalism revolutionised rugby union in 1995 and has transformed those playing the game into mock Ivan Drago figurines who can bench-press a small family hatchback.
The professionalism of rugby, and therefore those playing the game, has been unequivocally good for the sport. But we’d be lying if we said we didn’t have a soft spot for those who by their looks, playing style or demeanour have managed to cling on to the amateur spirit that once defined this game.
Here are 12 of our absolute favourites…
The Top 12 Old-School Rugby Players of the Professional Era
Ange Capuozzo, Italy
Ange Capuozzo of Italy poses for a portrait during the Italy Rugby World Cup 2023 Squad photocall. (Photo by Pat Elmont – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)
Born in France to French parents but as Italian as they come, Ange Capuozzo looks like he was plucked straight from the golden era of Italian cinema with his swept curtain haircut and dark brown eyes.
His cinematic appeal is not reserved for his looks, mind, as despite being a diminutive figure who is often dwarfed on the field, Capuozzo is one of the most exciting players in world rugby who simply makes things happen.
Take the 2022 Six Nations, when his inspired last-minute line break provided Eduardo Padovani with the chance to score against Wales and end Italy’s 36-game losing streak in the tournament. Afterwards, Italy captain Michele Lamaro said, “Capuozzo is the superstar of our squad right now.”
Andy Goode, England
Andy Goode in his trademark gloves. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Was there any doubt in him making our list? Resembling a tired opponent of Giant Haystacks on World of Sport, Andy Goode is the epitome of an ‘old-school player’ in the pro era.
A man who gave hope to amateurs across the country that the dream was still alive. In fact, Goode is one of the great fly-halves of the Premiership era – a Hall of Famer with over 400 games in the English top flight across five clubs and 18 years, racking up 2,285 points in the process. You don’t do that by being an amateur, do you?
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Stephen Donald, New Zealand
New Zealand All Black fly-half Stephen Donald _AFP PHOTO/William WEST)
Stephen is your team-mate’s pal who turns up last minute as a ringer, plays under an alias, wears a pair of old cotton shorts from his university days and insists that he is “happy to just play anywhere in the back-line”. Two minutes after coming on, he has slotted in at fly-half and is running the game on a string.
After scoring a brace, he buys the team a jug in the clubhouse before disappearing in his white Audi A4, never to be seen again. Or he wins a rugby-obsessed country’s first World Cup in 24 years to become a national hero who later appears on The Masked Singer NZ.
We’ve all played with Stephen.
Mamuka Gorgodze, Georgia
Mamuka Gorgodze earned cult hero status. (Photo by Matt Lewis – World Rugby via Getty Images/World Rugby via Getty Images)
“He may be one of the toughest players in world rugby but he’s got a smile that could melt an iceberg,” the commentator said as Mamuka Gorgodze was named Player of the Match in Georgia’s 2015 World Cup game against New Zealand.
Rarely does a player from the losing side get such an award but the one they called ‘Gorgodzilla’ was special. A monster who looked as if he had been raised by wolves in the Caucasus Mountains, he could devastate teams on both sides of the ball. The Montpellier press once said that “his charges would cause shivers throughout the Yves du Manoir Stadium”.
He’s the sort of bloke who will crush your palm in a loving handshake and laugh at you.
Thomas Waldrom, England
Thomas Waldrom enjoyed successful spells at Exeter Chiefs and Leicester Tigers. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
The streets won’t forget the 2014-15 Thomas ‘The Tank’ Waldrom. At the back of the Exeter pack, he scored a remarkable 16 tries, finishing the season top try-scorer and crowning each with his infamous arm-pumping ‘toot-toot’ celebration. One of the best seasons by a player in Premiership history.
In an interview with The Guardian that year, he confessed to not being the “typical mould for a rugby player” who will “never have a six-pack” and being part of Exeter Chiefs’ cookie club.
His slightly squished face poking from his colour-coordinated scrum cap gave hope to all us amateurs that we could maybe make it to the big time one day.’
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Dimitri Yachvili, France
Yachvili lines up a kick on his brand new tee (Getty Images)
Before Antoine Dupont came along and ruined it for everyone, French scrum-halves were a different breed. Small, stern conductors who dictated the pace and direction of the game from behind the ruck.
Perhaps the archetypal version, Dimitri Yachvili looked like your average bloke but made a career out of winning games single-handedly for Biarritz and France. Such as in the 2005 Six Nations when he kicked all 18 of France’s points in a win at Twickenham against England from a tee bought in the stadium shop.
He was also the last real proponent of the fantastically unnecessary dive pass.
Brock James, Australia
Brock James prepares to kick a penalty during the Heineken Cup pool game. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
A Top 14 legend, Brock James played 14 years and over 350 games for Clermont, La Rochelle and Bordeaux-Bègles; his tally of 2,494 points is the third-highest in the competition.
He won a Challenge Cup in 2007, a Top 14 title in 2010 and in 2009, The Independent voted him the 50th best player in the world. And he managed all this while wearing gloves.
The Australian was your old-school fly-half distributor, making his passes in the pocket and slotting his goal kicks while those around him did the real, hard graft. In 2009, he landed 41 place kicks in a row, a Top 14 record that was just three short of Neil Jenkins’s world record of 44.
Maxime Médard, France
Maxime Medard of France poses for a portrait during the France Rugby World Cup 2019 squad photo call. (Photo by Robert Cianflone – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)
Nicknamed ‘The French Wolverine’, Maxime Médard was utterly predictable on the pitch by virtue of him never knowing what he was going to do next.
Having followed in the footsteps of Clément Poitrenaud and Cédric Heymans, it was no surprise that he approached the game with the reckless abandon of a 19th-century whimsical flâneur. Sometimes the best in the world, sometimes anonymous, it was what endeared us to him so much.
A one-club man who spent his career at boyhood team Toulouse, Médard was 13 when he told his father he wanted to become a French champion at least once. Try five-time French champion and a two-time European Cup winner who was a torch bearer for the Paris Games.
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Denis Hickie, Ireland
Denis Hickie has an impressive try-scoring record for Ireland. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Shane Byrne said of Denis Hickie that he was “by far and away the strongest back in any province in Ireland”, while Brian O’Driscoll said “get him the ball one-on-one with anybody and he would cause them serious headaches” thanks to his electric speed and agility.
Which is remarkable because when you look at Hickie, with his five o’clock shadow stubble and receding hairline, he doesn’t look like one of the deadliest finishers to pull on the Ireland jersey.
His 29 tries in 62 Tests speaks volumes. Hickie’s try average of 0.47 tries per game is better than Tommy Bowe, Keith Earles and Shane Horgan.
Ben Smith, New Zealand
Ben Smith scores a try for New Zealand. (AFP PHOTO / MARTY MELVILLE)
The one they called ‘Ben from accounts’. Next to All Blacks team-mates like Ma’a Nonu and Sonny Bill Williams, Ben Smith looked as if he was from a different, well-audited planet.
In reality, he was a demon on the pitch, capable of cutting through a disorganised defensive line like a knife through butter.
The 2015 World Cup winner also spent a year playing social rugby for Old Colstonians while teaching in Bristol during a gap year. “Some guys took it a bit more seriously than others,” he told The 42, “and some just enjoyed getting into the club on a Saturday night and having a beer. I came over more for the experience than to play rugby.”
Nick Easter, England
England’s Nick Easter poses in Queenstown, New Zealand. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
It wasn’t until turning 26 that Nick Easter got his big break in professional rugby.
Before then it was a life of university, travelling, teaching, a job in the City of London and mostly social rugby – a lived experience many of us can relate to.
Then came a full-time contract with Harlequins, quickly followed by a World Cup with England – proof of just how quickly one’s circumstances can change. In his approach to the game, Easter looked for a balance of professionalism and a ‘normal’ life, which goes some way into explaining how he continued to play for England until 37.
“Players should explore avenues while they’re younger,” said Easter, who, as director of rugby, this year took village side Chinnor up to the RFU Championship.
Jerry Collins, New Zealand
New Zealand legend Jerry Collins (Getty Images)
An exception to the rule. The late, great Jerry Collins looked every bit the pro rugby player. He was a granite-formed hitman whose 52cm biceps were said to be as big as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s when he won Mr Universe.
But any Test star willing to turn out for an amateur side’s 2nd XV is worthy of a place on the list. In 2007, just days after playing in the World Cup, Collins turned out for Barnstaple 2nds against Newton Abbot while on holiday in Devon because he fancied a game.
He played at eight, centre, set up a try and rang Dan Carter from the changing room. A month later, Collins played for the Barbarians against South Africa wearing Barnstaple socks. The stuff of legend.
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