Rugby Union's Most Impactful Players of All Time

NEWCASTLE, U.K. - Dec. 22, 2020 - PRLog -- Every sport has its heroes—the athletes who can turn a game or an event on its head, have jaws drop to their floor and buttocks rise from seats in disbelief.

From Usain Bolt winning the 100m with a time of 9.63 seconds to Billie Jean King beating Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes, these remarkable individuals are everywhere, and they act as a firm reminder why we tune in to watch sports.

Rugby is no different. Etched firmly in the history books are names like Jonah Lomu, Anthony Foley, and Percy Montgomery. These men, legends in their own right, are remembered as some of the most outstanding and impeccable talents that have ever graced the rugby field.

While we can look at individual player statistics in a bid to detail 'the Greatest of All Time', or analyse cumulative team honours, something which is yet to be done is depicting 'the Most Impactful Player of All Time'.

Therefore, in light of their recent partnership with England Rugby, that's exactly what Charles Tyrwhitt https://www.ctshirts.com/uk has done. They've cross-referenced international player win percentage with overall international team win percentage in a bid to discover which person has made the biggest contribution and could be considered the most impactful. The players included in the list are the 50 most capped international players in each position. Here's what we found…

The most impactful

USA number eight, Cam Dolan, is ranked as the most impactful player of all time. His personal international win percentage is 28.2 per cent higher than that of his national side, suggesting that when he is playing, the Eagles, as the USA are known, play considerably better.

Dolan is one of very few American Rugby Union players to have played professionally outside of the States, having turned out for Northampton Saints, Cardiff Blues, and Nottingham, respectively.

Point contribution

The 100 players to make up the list contributed an incredible 13,676 points over the course of their international careers, with a number still playing and capable of further adding to these impressive totals. Former England fly half Jonny Wilkinson contributed the most points of any player on the list, notching up 1180 over the course of his 13-year career.

Whichever way you look at it, these players are rugby union legends and their efforts on the international stage cannot be understated.