Here we pick our top five best flankers of all time. We’ve used a number of stats to quantify our rankings, as well as a player’s overall contribution to the game. So who makes it into our top five?
All stats come from ESPN.com and are correct as of the publish date.
Honourable mentions: George Smith (Australia), Finlay Calder (Scotland), Ian Kirkpatrick (New Zealand), Michael Hooper (australia)
5 Best Rugby Flankers Of All Time
#5. Francois Pienaar (South Africa)
Pienaar is best known for captaining South Africa to victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
He only played in 29 matches, but all of them were as captain, and he demonstrated his excellent rugby skills. Pienaar’s team not only defeated the highly favored New Zealand team in front of a excited South African crowd, but also made a small contribution to bringing together the post-apartheid society in South Africa.
After being dropped from the Springbok team, Pienaar went on to play for the English club Saracens.
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