Despite being England's inspirational captain at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, Martin Johnson did occasionally hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
1. Doddie Weir
After an argument breaks out at a scrum, Leicester lock Martin Johnson lands a punch on the chin of Scottish lock playing for the Barbarians Doddie Weir during their match in May 1999 at Twickenham.
2. Peter Stringer
3. Robbie Russell
England's grizzled World Cup winning captain lets fly at Robbie Russell.
4.Christophe Juillet
Johnson is sin binned after punching Stade Français number 8 Christophe Juillet in the face in the 2001 Heineken Cup final after the Frenchman was holding onto his shirt.
5. John Leslie
Johnson is fortunate only to be shown a yellow card by referee David McHugh after stamping on the throat of Scotland centre John Leslie during the 5 Nations match at Twickenham in February 1999. The incident caused a small controversy after the match with the Scottish sports minister Sam Galbraith describing it as an "absolutely appalling act", however Johnson claimed he just wanted to ruck Leslie out and that he didn't connect with the throat deliberately.
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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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