Philippe Saint-Andre: Back when rugby was proper…

Everything might’ve changed, what with modern day props able to outpace the amateur
winger, but when you’ve scored L’Essai du Siècle (the try of the century) you are
an expert when it comes to finishing.

Capped 69 times for France, 34 times as captain, Philippe Saint-Andre led the French
to an unprecendented two Test wins over the All Blacks, in New Zealand in 1994.

So we’ve established his record speaks for itself, but who are his all-time top five
wingers?


Jonah Lomu

“He is rugby’s biggest star and arrived bigger, stronger and quicker than everybody.
He was the image of professional rugby and he destroyed England in that World Cup
quarter-final in 1995, changing the game, by scoring three tries and walking over
Mike Catt, which had everybody in shock. He was just fantastic.”

Bryan Habana

“What he’s doing with South Africa at the moment is unbelievable. He can beat people,
create a scoring opportunity, finish a sweeping move, just a fantastic winger. His
pace makes him such a tough opponent for anybody where in a flash he is gone and he
scores. He is also such a reliable defender and setting the benchmark for the modern
day winger.”

David Campese

“Campese was the first to bring something different to the wing. He was everywhere,
creating space for other people, coming off his wing, the complete fantastic winger.
Youd didn’t want to face him one to one as he could spot a mismatch many phases beforehand.
He was at his best coming inside the ten or the centre, and find a prop to run at
and he was blessed with fantastic skills.”

Rory Underwood

“His try scoring record for England was amazing. He was the prime winger of my generation
and was so prolific in front of the try-line. He could smell the try-line and had
such a killer instinct. His was so quick and a fantastic finisher.”

John Kirwan

“Wingers are always the stars of the Rugby World Cup and Kirwan set the trend for
Campese (1991), Lomu (1995) and Habana (2007). Kirwan was the biggest star of the
1987 World Cuo. He was quick, strong, powerful and his solo try against Italy from
90m beating so many defenders was fantastic. He could sidestep, pass over defenders
or outpace his man. Each competition there is one winger who does special things so
they stick out in the memory.”

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