Ireland and South Africa provided six of the nine rugby union greats inducted into the International Rugby Board (IRB) Hall of Fame on Tuesday at a ceremony at Rugby School.
Sir Anthony O’Reilly, Willie John McBride and former IRB President Syd Millar were the Irish trio, while the South African triumvirate were Barry Heatlie, Benjamin Osler and Frederick du Preez.
In a year which saw an epic British and Irish Lions series in South Africa — which the world champions won 2-1 — the first man to captain a Lions side, Scotland’s William Maclagan, who led what was then known as the British team on a tour of South Africa in 1891, was also on the list.
O’Reilly holds the record for tries for the Lions, having scored 37 on two tours for them, his first aged just 19 where he played in all four tests scoring two tries.
Heatlie is credited with being the inspiration for the South Africans’ green jersey — it making its first appearance in the final Test against the Lions in 1903, which was also his last appearance for his country.
Osler has been described as the “greatest individual match winner and tactical master that South African rugby has ever produced” — he played 17 consecutive Tests for the Springboks and captained them on their 1931-1932 Grand Slam tour of the British Isles.
Members of the public were invited to vote on nominees from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, giving rugby fans around the world an opportunity to recognize their most treasured players. These votes were then compiled before the IRB Hall of Fame Induction Panel comprising Don Cameron, Gerald Davies, Henri Garcia, Norman Mair, Pablo Mamone and Nigel Starmer-Smith selected the nine legends to be inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame this year.
List of rugby union stars inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame on Tuesday: William Maclagan (Scotland), Barry Heatlie (South Africa), Benjamin Osler (South Africa), Cliff Morgan (Wales), Sir Anthony O’Reilly (Ireland), Frederick du Preez (South Africa), Dr Syd Millar (Ireland), Willie John McBride (Ireland), Ian McGeechan (Scotland).
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