RANKED | The 5 toughest England players ever have been named...

Here, RUCK counts down their controversial top five that sees a back ranked at number one.

This is their verdict....

THEY SAID: It takes a special player to earn the New Zealand public’s respect, especially when you’re wearing the number 7 shirt. But that’s exactly what Winterbottom did with the British and Irish Lions in 1983 and 1993. 

DID YOU KNOW? Winterbottom is the uncle of Swiss-born James Leuzinger, who represented Great Britain at the 2006 Winter Olympics

THEY SAID: 'Representing England 37 times between 1988 and 1993, prop Probyn didn’t intimidate opponents with hard-man, bully-boy tactics. He simply wore them down, scrum after remorseless scrum, until they couldn’t take anymore.'

DID YOU KNOW? Due to Probyn's scrummaging techniques some players took to cutting off the sleeves of their shirts as they believed this was how Jeff managed to get so low down in the scrum and would use the sleeves as leverage

THEY SAID: 'During the late 80s and early 90s, Gloucester and England fans relished the sight of "Iron Mike" rampaging around the field, socks rolled down. A big-hitting, hard-carrying No.6, Teague was voted Man of the Series on the brutal 1989 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia.'

DID YOU KNOW? Teague has opened two pubs with his brother Gary, one directly opposite Kingsholm in Gloucester and one more recently in nearby Cheltenham, both called Teagues Bar.

THEY SAID: ' He had many skills but turning the other cheek wasn’t one of them. The Leicester lock and Lions legend was no stranger to the sin-bin, a punch on Saracens’ Robbie Russell one of many red-mist moments.'

DID YOU KNOW? Johnson briefly played American football for the Leicester Panthers as a tight end or defensive end

THEY SAID: 'A fly-half? Topping a list of England’s hardest rugby players? Yes, but this is no ordinary number 10. Pound for pound, Wilko is still the most destructive tackler the game has ever seen and few players have endured so much physical punishment yet kept coming back for more. Tough.'

DID YOU KNOW? Wilkinson's brother, Mark, was also a Newcastle player who made 16 appearances in the Premiership for the side between 2002 and 2005, predominantly as a centre