Who do you think is the fastest man in world rugby...?

Question

i would like to know if you out there also think its Bulls wing Brian Habana and why is Fourie du Preez ranked as the best scrumhalf in the world?

Answer 1

Where did you hear that Fourie du Preez is ranked as the best scrum half in the world? There's no individual player ranking system so I don't know where you got the information from. It's true that at the moment there's no stand out scrum half as there has been in the past but I think it could be argued that Dwayne Peel and Byron Kelleher are up there with du Preez.

As for the fastest man in world rugby, it's hard to say. The last answer is correct, some players are elusive whereas others rely on raw speed. Joe Rokocoko has both, Siviveni Sivivatu is **** quick and having only seen David Strettle play twice I'd say he certainly looks like one of the fastest players out there.

On form, I think Caucau is by far and away the fastest in world rugby but right now he's a fat b*stard and struggles to get through training sessions at Agen.

Tom Varndell is probably the fastest player in the northern hemisphere at the moment. As for the southern hemisphere I think you're right that Habana is the fastest although he did get easily cut down by Howlett in a race for the line in last years Super14 - that depends on the situation though I suppose as McCaw caught Gerrard from way behind during the Tri-nations 06 and there's no comparison between the speed of those two.

There was a japanese winger, I think his name was Chida Ito, in the 1991 world cup and he once qualified to represent Japan at the asian games over 100m and was an indoor 60m specialist.

If you don't mind adding Rugby League then currently its Darren Albert (Necastle Knights, St. Helens, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, NSW). Other noted speedsters are/were Andrew Frew, Justin Loomans, Brett Dallas, Antony Sullivan, Shane Whereat, Lee Odenryun, Martin Offiah, Darren Clarke (Commonwealth Games 400m Gold medalist who played for Balmain in 91-92), Larry Corowa, Ken Irvine (official 100 yard time of 9.3 in 1961, equalling the then professional world record), Michael Cleary (bronze medal in 100 yards at 1962 Commonwealth Games in official time of 9.78) & Johnny Bliss.

During the early 1950's, Bliss, who played for Manly Warringah at the time, was officially timed at 11.1 for the 110 yards and 9.9 for the 100 yards. This while deacked out in full playing gear and carrying a football!! Note that the 1948 Olympic winning time was 10.3 for the 100 yards and that shows how fast "Blistering" Johnny Bliss really was.

Back in Union I don't think many people could compete with the speed of Nigel Walker who could clock 10.3 seconds over 100m but aside from a fantastic assist for Craig Quinnell's try against France in the late nineties I don't remember him ever managing to get properly into his stride in a Wales shirt. Still, he was faster than Habana is.

Rugby is a sport where 100m speed doesn't mean much and I think Habana is good over 100m but there are many players even now, Soseni Anesi springs to mind; who are probably faster but haven't had the chance to show their worth in XVs as they're busy playing on the international sevens circuit which, unfortunately, doesn't get half as much exposure as XVs.

So, in summary - League - Ken Irvine, Union at the moment - Varndell, Union all time - Nigel Walker and overall Ken Irvine was the fastest.

Answer 2

I would think the fijian winger cacau is the fastest player in world rugby, his speed is mesmerrising and the most amazing thing is he can produce this speed while clearly not being at the peak of his physical fitness.
Mark Jones of Wales is also pretty pacey, which is inspiring haveing seen the injuries which he has had to recover from

Answer 3

impossible to say but caucaunibuca and habana are certainly up there

du preez is a fine scum half, so is gregan, kelleher, stringer and peel

for me troncon is the best scrum half at the moment its one thing to be a great scum half when you are part of a world class team but he plays for italy. his leadership and skills have guided italy to back to back victory in the 6 nations not an easy task for the italians

Answer 4

Shane Whereat

Answer 5

Mark Jones (or HFL - how ffffing long) is one of the fastest (and most injury prone) men in the northern hemisphere.

Rugby seems to be more about sidestepping, and changing of direction - and rarely do players get to show full on accelleration in attack.