2. Gary Armstrong
“Inside me at scrum-half I have one of the toughest players in the world. We call Gary Armstrong the Junkyard Dog.”
Those were the words of Jonny Wilkinson on his former Newcastle Falcons team-mate, Armstrong.
He was a long-haul lorry driver as well as a snapping terrier of a scrum-half who took contact unflinchingly. He was a Lion in 1989 and was regarded as one of the best No 9s in the world in the mid-90s while still working gruelling hours.
He eventually answered the siren’s call of professionalism, leaving Scotland to play seven seasons in Newcastle from 1997, winning the Premiership title in his first term. However, he jokes that he only learned to pass off his left hand once he was paid to play.
Describing what Armstrong brought to the table, Peter Walton also said: “He was the hardest, dirtiest, and best player ever.”