From Jonah Lomu advertising Pizza to Will Carling teaching Mr Blobby, RUCK recalls some of the players, teams, tries, matches, merchandise, moments and mayhem that made rugby in the '90s so great…
1. PIZZA HUT ADS WITH LOMU...AND UNDERWOOD
Pizza Hut ad featuring rugby stars Jonah Lomu, Rory & Tony Underwood (and their mother!) in 1995.
2. BAGGY/COTTON SHIRTS
We miss them. But they left for the same reason international players stopped having a glass of champagne and a cigarette at half time. Professionalism.
3. RUGBY STARS DOING DAY JOBS
Before the days of professionalism, rugby stars had days jobs just like you and me. Some of our favourites include lorry driver/Scotland scrum-half Gary Armstrong, RAF pilot/England flier Rory Underwood and Piano Mover/Samoa prop Peter Fatialofa.
5. CLASH OF THE CODES
Clash of the Codes was a special two match inter-code series between rugby union side Bath and rugby league side Wigan, played in May 1996.
4. NEW ZEALAND DIDN'T WIN EVERYTHING
They have near enough always been the best team in the world. They’ve never slipped below third in the world rankings and have spent more time in the top spot than the rest of the world combined.
Despite that, you could always rely on the Kiwis to choke in major tournaments and give the rest of us a fair chance. Now they've won back-to-back World Cups and are the bookies favourite to make it a hat-trick.
5. PRIME JONAH LOMU
Arguably the greatest rugby player of all time. This machine has terrorised World Rugby throughout his decade reign, particularly throughout the 1990s.
6. CORINTHIAN FIGURES
RUCK can neither confirm nor deny reports that a staff member hurled a tiny plastic Mike Catt out of a first-floor window in the aftermath of England’s 1995 defeat against the All Blacks.
7. WILL CARLING AND MR BLOBBY
Will Carling believes that he is taking part in a new childrens TV show featuring 'Mr Blobby', but the joke is on him....
8. VA'AIGA TUIGAMALA
He joined Newcastle Falcons in a world record £1m deal. A unique player to watch with his unbelievable power and pace.
9. JOEL STRANSKY DROP-GOAL
What. A. Moment.
10. BRILLIANTLY CRAP AWAY KITS
Some things are so bad, they’re good, and away kits in the ’90s were often gloriously dreadful. The most infamous was the ‘Irn Bru’ coloured Scotland change strip.
11. Western Samoa shock Wales – RWC 1991
Wales, and the rest of the world of rugby, were stunned when massive underdogs Western Samoa pulled off a shock victory over the Welsh in the group stages of the 1991 tournament, coming out on top in a closely contested match that ended 16-13. Wales were playing at home and expected to win easily, but the Samoans had different ideas.
12. NEWCASTLE'S TITLE-WINNING TEAM
Coached by Rob Andrew and spearheaded by Jonny Wilkinson, the Falcons just edged past Bath on the final day to win the first edition of the Premiership title. It was a star-studded side that also included rugby legends Pat Lam, Doddie Weir and Gary Armstrong.
See where they are now.
13. JONAH LOMU RUGBY (PS1)
The daddy. The first big rugby game to come to home games consoles was Codemaster's Jonah Lomu Rugby, and it was received with almost unconditional love when released in 1997. It was a major developer's first go at a rugby game, and they nailed it.
14. THIS T-SHIRT
In 1999 Wales flanker Colin Charvis was suspended for two weeks following a punch-up with Roberto Grau in the opening match of the World Cup. Days later, Gareth Thomas showed his support with this 'Free Colin Charvis' t-shirt
15. MANDELA HANDS PIENAAR THE TROPHY
The truly remarkable tale of rugby uniting a racially divided country reached its pinnacle when South Africa beat New Zealand 15-12 in a closely fought final in 1995. Nelson Mandela in his Springboks jersey presenting the trophy to captain Francois Pienaar perfectly symbolised the ‘Rainbow Nation’ that the country had become.null
16. NEW ZEALAND 45-29 ENGLAND
Jonah Lomu scores one of the tries of Rugby World Cup 1995 against England.
17. CAMPESE'S BLIND PASS
18. WORST RWC JERSEY EVER
It was the summer of 1995 and Canadian rugby legend Al Charron had a problem. The Canadian management had handed their star the task of presenting their new national team jersey to the media. No surprise he hated it and so did everyone else. However, over 20-years on it's so bad we love it!
19. Les Bleus fight back against New Zealand – RWC 1999
When tournament favorites New Zealand went up against France in the 1999 semi-final, everybody expected a routine victory for the Johah Lomu inspired All Blacks. Things seemed to be going to plan when New Zealand found themselves with an early 24-10 lead, but France clearly hadn’t read the script, dismantling the favorites by scoring 33 points without reply. Jeff Wilson managed to score a consolation try, but it wasn’t enough to prevent one of the greatest upsets in Rugby World Cup history, with France winning 43-31.
20. THAT LLIONS SPEACH FROM JIM TELFER
In 1997, the Lions played South Africa and won. In amongst all the never-before-seen footage and fantastic rugby, though, was one speech from Jim Telfer. “This is our Everest Boys”, you know the rest…
You will have to go some way to top this is a team talk. (Warning: Explicit lyrics being spat out by Telfer, here).
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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