LIST: International Rugby’s One Cap Wonders XV

LIST: International Rugby’s One Cap Wonders XV

Ever wondered what a team of one-test internationals would look like if you gathered them all up and sent them onto the field?

Wonder no longer. RUCK.co.uk sports writers Steve Smith and Sam Foster have selected the games One-Test Wonders XV, picking from players from the past 20 years or so.


Fullback: Mark van Gisbergen – England

Yes, he has a cap – only a fleeting one, as a late replacement for Mark Cueto against Australia in 2005 – but he does boast a 100% winning ratio in international colours, so you can’t knock that. An exceptional player at club level, scoring over a 1000 points for Wasps, things just didn’t come together for him on the Test stage.


Winger: Frank Halai – New Zealand

He’s big, he’s Tongan, he’s fast, he’s powerful, he’s the One-Test Wonders’ version of Jonah Lomu. Spread it wide and give big Frank Halai some space to move and he can be devastating.


Centre: Mark Bartholomeusz – Australia

Australian Bartholomeusz was part of the ACT Brumbies team that won the Super Rugby title back in 2004. Before moving to England and joining Saracens, the Wallabies centre played all of 2 minutes and 33 seconds against Italy – one of the shortest international careers in the history of rugby.


Centre: Regan King – New Zealand

Scarlets fans will probably remember King as one of their best ever players, and if it had not been for his solitary cap for the All Blacks back in 2002 he would almost certainly have played for the country he spent 11 years plying his trade in.


Winger: Steve Hanley – England 

Aged 19, Hanley was one of two Sale players to make their international debut in England’s final match of their 1999 Five Nations campaign along with Barrie-Jon Mather. Although Hanley scored a try, this proved to be his only ever international appearance despite a stellar club career with the Sharks.

LIST CONTINUES ON PAGE TWO