The Most Famous

RUGBY PLAYERS from United Kingdom

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This page contains a list of the greatest British Rugby Players. The pantheon dataset contains 35 Rugby Players, 3 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the 5th most number of Rugby Players behind South Africa, and Ireland.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary British Rugby Players of all time. This list of famous British Rugby Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of British Rugby Players.

Photo of Jonny Wilkinson

1. Jonny Wilkinson (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 42.40, Jonny Wilkinson is the most famous British Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages on wikipedia.

Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and French side Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scoring the winning drop goal in the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final and is widely acknowledged as one of the best rugby union players of all time. He played club rugby for twelve seasons in the English Premiership with Newcastle Falcons. In 2009, he moved to Toulon, where he won two Heineken Cups and one Top 14 championship in five seasons. He holds the record of top point-scorer at both clubs. Wilkinson won 91 caps for England. He was an integral member of the England squad which won the 2003 World Cup, scoring the winning drop goal in the last minute of extra time against Australia in the final. He came back from several injuries and was part of the England team which reached the final of the 2007 World Cup. He toured twice with the British & Irish Lions, in 2001 to Australia and 2005 to New Zealand, winning 6 caps. He retired from rugby at the end of the 2013–14 season. In 2016, he was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Wilkinson is currently a studio pundit for ITV Sport, working on their coverage of the Six Nations Championship, Rugby World Cup and other rugby events.

Photo of Mike Tindall

2. Mike Tindall (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 34.34, Mike Tindall is the 2nd most famous British Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Michael James Tindall, (born 18 October 1978) is an English former rugby union player and a member of the British royal family. Tindall played outside centre for Bath and Gloucester, and won 75 caps for England between 2000 and 2011. He was a member of the England squad which won the 2003 World Cup. Tindall made his debut for England on 5 February 2000, against Ireland in the 2000 Six Nations Championship. As well as winning the 2003 World Cup, he was a member of the England team which won the 2003 Six Nations Championship. He was injured at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Tindall played in eleven Six Nations Championship competitions from 2000 to 2011. Tindall is married to Zara Phillips, the daughter of Anne, Princess Royal and the eldest niece of King Charles III. They have three children.

Photo of Shane Williams

3. Shane Williams (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 33.04, Shane Williams is the 3rd most famous British Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Shane Mark Williams, (born 26 February 1977) is a Welsh former rugby union player most famous for his long and successful tenure as a wing for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He also played scrum-half on occasion. Williams is the record try scorer for Wales, and is fourth on the international list of leading rugby union test try scorers behind Daisuke Ohata, Bryan Habana and David Campese. In 2008, Williams was selected as the World Rugby Player of the Year, then known as the IRB Player of the Year. Since his retirement from international rugby in 2012, Williams has worked as a presenter on S4C's Six Nations rugby programme Y Clwb Rygbi Rhyngwladol, and as a pundit on BBC, ITV and Channel 4 broadcasts as well as third party shows such as "Inside Welsh Rugby", commenting on the grassroots of Welsh rugby. Williams was selected to the Barbarians squad that played Wales in June 2012. It was originally planned to be his last appearance as a player, but he shortly thereafter signed a one-year contract to play in Japan with Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars in June 2012. Williams was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to rugby. Williams extended his stay in Japan several times, taking on a role as player-coach and turning down an offer from French Top 14 side Toulon in the process. Before finally announcing he would be returning home at the end of the 2014–15 Japanese Top League season. In November 2016, Williams was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame during opening ceremonies for the Hall's first physical home in Rugby, Warwickshire.

Photo of Owen Farrell

4. Owen Farrell (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 30.29, Owen Farrell is the 4th most famous British Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Owen Andrew O'Loughlin Farrell (born 24 September 1991) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Top 14 club Racing 92 and England. Although fly-half is his preferred position, he frequently plays inside centre at test level. He spent the majority of his club career with Premiership side Saracens. He is known for his goal kicking prowess. Since 2012, Farrell has represented England internationally. With scoring over 1,200 points throughout over 100 tests, Farrell is one of the highest point scorers in test history, and he holds the record with both England and Saracens for highest points scored as a player. His father, Ireland's current head coach Andy Farrell, played both rugby union and rugby league for England, and was captain for England rugby league and his club Wigan Warriors.

Photo of Dan Biggar

5. Dan Biggar (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 29.05, Dan Biggar is the 5th most famous British Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Daniel Biggar (born 16 October 1989) is a Welsh professional rugby union player currently playing for French Top 14 side Toulon as a fly-half. A Wales international, Biggar has also twice been selected to tour with the British and Irish Lions.

Photo of George North

6. George North (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 22.33, George North is the 6th most famous British Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

George Philip North (born 13 April 1992) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for Pro D2 club Provence Rugby. Born in England, he represents Wales at international level. He began his professional career with the Scarlets before moving to England to play with the Northampton Saints. Notably, he made Welsh rugby history by being the youngest player to score a try on debut at the age of 18. North also has established himself as one of the top try-scorers at test level, holding the record for the most tries scored by an active international player.

Photo of Sariah Paki

7. Sariah Paki (b. )

With an HPI of 0.00, Sariah Paki is the 7th most famous British Rugby Player.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Sariah Paki (born 12 October 2001) is an Australian rugby union player.

Photo of Dan Norton

8. Dan Norton (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 0.00, Dan Norton is the 8th most famous British Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Daniel John Norton (born 22 March 1988) is a former rugby union player. He is the leading all-time try scorer in the World Rugby Sevens Series with over 350 tries, beating the previous record of 244 held by Kenya's Collins Injera at the 2017 Hong Kong Sevens tournament. A product of Hartpury College, Norton played most of his career as a winger. Norton was part of the Gloucester academy and dual registered with Moseley for both the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons. Moving on to Bristol Bears (Previously Bristol Rugby) from the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons. Norton won a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, he scored a try in the final, but was unable to prevent a 43-7 drubbing by Fiji. He helped the England rugby sevens team secure bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast with a 21-14 win over South Africa and the same side that won silver at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco 2018.

Photo of Jasmine Joyce-Butchers

9. Jasmine Joyce-Butchers (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 0.00, Jasmine Joyce-Butchers is the 9th most famous British Rugby Player.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Jasmine Joyce-Butchers (née Joyce; born 9 October 1995) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays wing for the Wales women's national rugby union team, Team GB and Bristol Bears. She made her debut for the Wales national squad in 2017, and represented them at the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.

Photo of Ollie Lindsay-Hague

10. Ollie Lindsay-Hague (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 0.00, Ollie Lindsay-Hague is the 10th most famous British Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Ollie Lindsay-Hague (born 8 October 1990) is a professional rugby union player, who played for Harlequin F.C. Lindsay-Hague is a versatile member of the squad having played wing, fullback and also scrum-half for the club. He was educated at Hall School Wimbledon and Millfield School where he was Sevens captain. He first played pro rugby at London Welsh, while also representing the England Under 16 A team as well as playing for England in 7s. Lindsay-Hague was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rugby sevens. It was announced in August 2016 that he was leaving Harlequins. In August 2021, it was announced that Lindsay-Hague would join Newcastle Falcons and return to the 15-a-side format. He left Newcastle Falcons in 2022.

People

Pantheon has 18 people classified as British rugby players born between 1977 and 1997. Of these 18, 18 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living British rugby players include Jonny Wilkinson, Mike Tindall, and Shane Williams. As of April 2024, 15 new British rugby players have been added to Pantheon including Mike Tindall, Owen Farrell, and Dan Biggar.

Living British Rugby Players

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Newly Added British Rugby Players (2024)

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