A New Zealand rugby show has ranked five Springboks legends ahead of the All Blacks’ clash with South Africa at Eden Park.
Speaking on the Breakdown show, former All Blacks James Wilson, Mils Muliaina, Stephen Donald and Justin Marshall hailed the impact of the South African quintet.
The show did not specify that it was a ranking of the greatest Springboks of all-time, but did list lock Victor Matfield in the top position, followed by the late Joost van der Westhuizen.
Former flanker Schalk Burger was ranked in third, ahead of winger Bryan Habana and prop Os du Randt.
Greatest Springboks
“If you’re wondering why there aren’t any of the current players, we just didn’t want to give them too much confidence going into the weekend,” Wilson quipped.
“Eben, we know you’re in that conversation. Cheslin, we know you’re in that conversation. We’ll talk about some of the older guys. Bryan Habana, just a try-scoring machine.”
Commenting on the Springboks’ all-time leading try scorer, Muliaina added: “All those guys there, they were just influential in terms of the results and what they did, but not just on the field, off the field, as their leadership, but Bryan Habana, he was just a lot of gas.”
Turning to Marshall, Wilson asked his former teammate about the late Van der Westhuizen whom he described as “One of our greatest rivals”, adding, “he was some sort of competitor.”
“Oh, he was, and he was obviously a very proud South African and proud Springbok,” Marshall said.
“People always ask me about what it was like to play against him. At times, I wasn’t playing against the best nine in the world; I was possibly playing the best rugby player in the world. And I think Antoine Dupont has got that mantle now, but he could influence a game like no other player. And he influenced people around him by the way that he played.
“You think of a Richie McCaw, those types of players are very rare. Feel very lucky to have played against Joost, and he will never be forgotten in the way that he played and what he gave to the game.”
Schalk Burger typified what it means to be a Springbok
Turning the attention to Burger, Wilson said: “Then there’s that big man Schalk Burger. Os was probably the biggest man, but Schalk Burger was a special player. He typified exactly the physicality you expect inside a Springbok.”
Donald, who faced off against Burger during his playing days, joined Wilson in praising the former flanker’s approach to the game.
“Physical but so abrasive,” he said.
“They talk about structure these days, but it just looked like he went ‘Right, I’m just going to go do that and I’m going to do it as hard as I can and as physical as I can’.
“By all accounts, he was terrible in the gym. How a man that strong and that physical but an incredible player, and to be fair, one of the best off the field too.”
Wilson concluded the discussion, saying: “There has been so many great players, and there are so many in this group right now who have had such great careers. I’m looking forward to seeing them in action this weekend.”
In 2022, South African newspaper Rapport ranked the 30 greatest players of the past 40 years, a list which saw Van der Westhuizen ranked second, Habana third, Du Randt fourth, Matfield fifth and Burger seventh.
Meanwhile, Super Sport is running a poll for a Dream Boks XV, which Du Randt, Matfield and Burger have been voted into in their respective positions.
READ MORE: South African newspaper selects their 30 greatest Springboks of the past 40 years