Super Rugby countdown: Each New Zealand club's top 10 players of all time: No 1

Stuff

02 June 2023

Super Rugby countdown: Each New Zealand club's top 10 players of all time: No 1

Of course, there will be debate over who’s missed out and who didn’t deserve to be on the list, but when it comes to the five players who our rugby writers decided to put at No 1, each of them epitomised what their team was all about and left a mark that will never be forgotten.

For the final time, it was Marc Hinton who compiled the top 10 list for the Blues, Aaron Goile for the Chiefs, Phillip Rollo for the Hurricanes, Robert van Royen for the Crusaders and Paul Cully for the Highlanders.

In case you’ve forgotten here ere are our previous selections for the countdown: No 2, No 3, No 4,No 5, No 6,No 7, No, 8, No 9 and No 10.

BLUES

Carlos Spencer

1996-2005 – 96 games

On a list where some fabulous players could not even make the top 10, the No 1 had to be someone special, someone who left a true impact on the game, someone the fans came in their numbers to see and someone who made the team consistently better over a prolonged period. That someone has to be the man they came to call King Carlos, the gifted first five-eighth from Horowhenua who came north to Auckland as a raw young prospect and matured into one of the most beloved figures of this franchise. He played 10 years for the Blues, won three championships (1996, ‘97 and 2003), scored 25 tries in his 96 appearances and was an integral part of backlines that played with creativity, flair and no little ferocity. He had a swagger about him, too, that seemed to suit this organisation, and inspire this team, personified by that infamous try against the Crusaders in 2004 to cap a 38-29 victory in Christchurch. Remember it? Spencer sparked a 100m movement with an audacious pass on his own tryline and completed it by collecting the final pass, dashing clear and casually strolling to the corner of the in goal to dot down. Then nailed the sideline conversion to raise the metaphorical, and literal, finger. Nobody did it like King Carlos.

CHIEFS

Liam Messam

2006-2018, 2021 – 183 games

The absolute epitome of the Chiefs. A man full of mana and integrity, of exceptional skill as well as a tremendous work ethic, the dynamic, yet hard-nosed, loose forward gave his absolute all to the franchise, time and again, and is well clear as their most-capped player. A regular on the World Sevens circuit, Messam made his Super debut in 2006, and in the next five seasons didn’t miss a game for Ian Foster’s outfit, making the No 6 jersey his own, and featuring in the side’s maiden final, in 2009 in Pretoria. Fresh off non-World Cup selection disappointment, Messam was in 2012 appointed a full-time co-captain by new coach Dave Rennie and immediately thrived in the role, driving standards and building a strong culture. It shone out on the field, the Chiefs going on a stirring run to their first title, and a back-to-back triumph in 2013 – a season in which their talismanic leader became the club’s first centurion – as Messam (43 tests) broke from fringe international to more prominent in the All Blacks jersey. A tenacious defender with a never-say-die attitude, he would get stuck into breakdowns but be equally adept wide of the ruck, possessing a skip and turn of pace that several times burnt would-be tacklers and helped him to 31 tries in the jersey. Opting to pursue Olympics sevens selection in 2016, he again put missed selection behind him to slot straight back into his beloved Chiefs, and even after leaving for Toulon in 2018, it didn’t prove to be the end. At 37 years old, Messam added four more caps to his bulging resume when an injury crisis struck the loose forwards stocks. His 183 appearances sit him third all-time in Super Rugby history.

HURRICANES

Christian Cullen

1996-2003 - 85 games

Greatness isn’t always measured by titles: No Hurricane has made the same searing impact as the Paekakariki Express, who scored 56 tries in a 308 points spread for the Hurricanes’ first eight seasons. The All Blacks’ best attacking fullback of the professional era, Cullen was the poster boy of Super Rugby’s early years. Crowds turned up just to see Cullen light up a game. The former sevens star bamboozled defences with his peerless broken field running, great gas off the mark and a killer instinct for a gap. His 1996 skills clinic duel with the Sharks’ Andre Joubert was worth the price of Athletic Park admission alone. Cullen was at his best when coaches gave him carte blanche to uncork his innate array of skills rather than be shackled to a rigid system. Alas, a knee injury hobbled him later in his career and he played his last game for the Canes at 27 and prevented him playing at the 2003 World Cup ahead of a final move to Munster. Cullen crossed for 58 tries in just 85 Super Rugby games, scoring 308 points in all on top of 46 tries in 58 tests. Had he been able to play at his peak for a few more seasons, he would surely be hailed today as Super Rugby’s greatest-ever player.

CRUSADERS

Richie McCaw

2001-2015 - 145

No surprises here, it had to be arguably the greatest player of all time. You can't think of the Crusaders without the wizardry openside flanker coming to mind, the man who helped the red and blacks possess one of the best forward packs for almost a decade and a half. McCaw won four titles with the Crusaders and captained them to three, a feat matched by fellow Crusaders Todd Blackadder and Sam Whitelock, who featured ninth and second respectively in this countdown. McCaw should have won more than four titles, too, only for Craig Joubert to wrongly penalise him at the death in the 2014 final against the Waratahs, a decision he later apologised to McCaw and coach Blackadder for. While injuries and All Blacks rest protocol denied him from playing more than 145 games, he remains the eighth most capped player in franchise history. A master pilferer and leader, one with a motor that never stopped, McCaw remains close to the franchise and is guaranteed to be inducted into the Crusaders' Hall of Fame in the next couple of years.

HIGHLANDERS

Aaron Smith

2011-2023 - 153 games

It was always going to be a close call between Aaron Smith and Ben Smith, but a good judge such as Tony Brown said last year that the halfback was the greatest and it's hard to argue. A one-club man, with 185 appearances to his name, who redefined halfback play, won a Super Rugby title against the odds and helped persuade his successor Folau Fakatava to remain in Dunedin: that says it all. Smith was recruited by Jamie Joseph, who looked past his comparatively small stature and saw a skill set that he could base an attacking philosophy around. With his bullet-like pass off both hands, Smith brought a speed and width to the Highlanders that teams struggled to cope with, particularly under the roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium. The halfback developed into an elite athlete who rarely got injured and is still regarded as the best trainer at the Highlanders at 34 years old. His work rate set him apart from his rivals and it continued off the field, with Smith happy to pass on his skills to schoolboy halfbacks in the region. He will be sorely missed next year as he heads off to Japan.

Blues: Keven Mealamu
Chiefs: Brodie Retallick
Hurricanes: Tana Umaga
Crusaders: Sam Whitelock
Highlanders: Ben Smith