How do you define individual sporting greatness, especially in a team game like rugby union? Are the best players the jet-heeled wings who sidestep and swerve their way to a sensational 50-metre try? Or the unsung soldiers of the scrum, tirelessly laying the foundations for their box-office colleagues to dazzle the crowds?
And how do you compare players from different eras, the cream of the amateur crop against the drilled and skilled stars of the professional era? Or high-profile stars from the biggest unions with outstanding talents from rugby’s smallest?
It’s no easy task, which is why we asked 11 rugby experts to get involved and help us.
We gave them a list of more than 100 illustrious Rugby World Cup names and asked them one simple question: who have been the greatest performers on the sport’s biggest stage? They each chose their own top 40, and their answers were collated to create what you can see here, the Guardian’s choice of the Rugby World Cup’s 50 greatest players.
Is this a definitive list? Of course not. Ask 11 different judges and you will get 11 different results. But it is our attempt to rank the very best of the best, and we hope you like it.
Our 11 judges
• Will Carling Former England international and Heineken ambassador
• John Smit Former South Africa international and Heineken ambassador
• Robert Kitson Guardian rugby correspondent
• Eddie Butler Observer rugby correspondent and former Wales international
• Paul Rees Guardian rugby writer
• Mike Averis Guardian rugby writer
• Michael Aylwin Guardian rugby writer
• Andy Bull Guardian chief sport writer
• Claire Tolley Guardian Rugby World Cup editor
• Ian Prior GNM head of sport
• Stephen McMillan Guardian sport features editor
How we arrived at our list
• Our judges were sent a longlist of more than 100 players and were asked one simple question: who have been the greatest players in the history of the Rugby World Cup?
• They were free to choose players not on the longlist if they wished.
• We asked our judges to choose 40 names each, and rank their selection in order from 1-40, No1 being their choice of the greatest player ever at the Rugby World Cup.
How the voting worked
• The No1 choice of each judge was awarded 40pts, No2 given 39pts, down to 1pt for their No40 choice.
• All the votes were added together to give a final score.
• The voting statistics will be published here when the full top 50 has been revealed.
Voting disclosure
• We are very grateful to our guest judges for taking part. To allow them the freedom to express their opinions without fear or favour, individual voting records are anonymised on the full breakdown of scores.
• Voters are identified by a number chosen at random. The judges’ numbers bear no relation whatsoever to the list of judges’ names presented above.
