Thu 10 May 2007

Here are the five players who have had the biggest impact on the Rugby World Cup.

1. John Eales (Australia)

One of only two men to have two World Cup winner's medals (the other is Tim Horan), Eales was an exciting young talent in Australia's 1991 triumph and their inspirational leader in 1999. Nicknamed 'Nobody' because nobody's perfect, Eales was to Australia what Martin Johnson was to England with the added advantage that he could kick penalties like Jonny Wilkinson and offload like Zinzan Brooke. It was no coincidence that Eales was at the helm for the Wallabies most successful era that culminated in the oneisan

-sided triumph of '99.

2. Jonah Lomu (New Zealand)

He never won a World Cup but no other player has had a bigger impact on the tournament. An unknown outside of New Zealand before the 1995 tournament, Lomu, weighing nearly 18st and standing at 6ft 5' at the time, announced himself as the sport's hottest talent with a series of barnstorming displays - most notably his four-try, one-man demolition of England in the semi-finals - to finish as the tournament's joint leading try-scorer. He was the leading try-scorer in 1999 also and with 15 five pointers is the leading try-scorer in World Cup history.

3. Jonny Wilkinson (England)

Wilkinson was deservedly the player of the tournament in 2003. Such was his metronomic accuracy that when the ball was thrown to him deep in extra-time of the final there was only one place it was going to end up: over the crossbar. Wilkinson had also scored all his team's points in their semi-final win over France and was the tournament's leading point-scorer. Without Wilkinson England would not have been world champions.

4. Tim Horan (Australia)

Horan returned from a serious knee injury a better player which is incredible considering how good he was before the injury. vital component of the Wallabies success in 1991, Horan scored four tries including one that finished off David Campese's spectacular play against New Zealand in the semi-final. He was at his peak in 1999 when he was voted player of the tournament. Rated by Rod Macqueen as the most complete player he ever coached and by Martin Johnson as one of his greatest opponents.

5. Francois Pienaar (South Africa)

There is Francois Pienaar taking the World Cup trophy from Nelson Mandela after the 1995 final. At a time when most players were out on their feet after an exhausting encounter, Pienaar was a dignified statesmen who did as much as Mandela to make the Springbok's victory so special. Throughout the '95 tournament he had been the rock on which his team was built. The South Africans were not the most skilful team in the tournament but Pienaar harnessed a nation's nervous energy and turned it into an awesome weapon.

Courtesy: Sports Asylum