Fifteen questions on the players the sport built its mythology around. Nothing here is free — no “which country did he play for”, no gimmes. One to five ask for a fact about the household names rather than the names themselves. Six to ten separate the people who watch from the people who follow. Eleven to fifteen are exact numbers, forgotten firsts and records, and a pub-quiz obsessive gets two or three of them, no more.
Nothing here can go out of date. No most-capped, no leading scorer, no current holder. Every answer was true the day it happened and will be true in twenty years.
WeTalkRugby Quiz
Fifteen Questions On Rugby’s All-Time Greats
Nothing here is free. One to five need you to know the game, six to ten need you to have been watching, and the last five are exact numbers and forgotten firsts.
- 15 questions
- No timer
- Nothing free
One shot per question. No going back, and the explanations are worth reading even when you get it right.
0/15
Every question and answer
Scroll past this if you have not played yet — every answer is below, with the context line that goes with it.
Questions 1–5: the names everybody knows, the facts they do not
1. Jonah Lomu scored four tries in a single match at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Which country was on the end of it?
A. England
B. Australia
C. France
D. Scotland
ANSWER: A — England
The semi-final in Cape Town, 45-29 to New Zealand, and the sight of Lomu running straight over the top of Mike Catt sold the sport to people who had never watched a game.
2. Siya Kolisi became the first black player to captain the Springboks in a Test match in which year?
A. 2015
B. 2016
C. 2018
D. 2019
ANSWER: C — 2018
He led the side out against England on 9 June 2018, seventeen months before he lifted the World Cup in Yokohama.
3. Martin Johnson captained which club to back-to-back Heineken Cup titles in 2001 and 2002?
A. Bath
B. Leicester Tigers
C. Wasps
D. Northampton Saints
ANSWER: B — Leicester Tigers
Leicester beat Stade Francais in 2001 and Munster 15-9 in 2002, and were the first side ever to successfully defend the trophy.
4. Brian O'Driscoll captained the British and Irish Lions on the 2005 tour to which country?
A. South Africa
B. Australia
C. New Zealand
D. Argentina
ANSWER: C — New Zealand
His tour lasted 41 seconds. Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu upended him in the first Test in Christchurch, the shoulder went, and neither man was ever sanctioned for it.
5. Sergio Parisse played five Rugby World Cups for Italy. In which country was he born?
A. Italy
B. France
C. Argentina
D. Romania
ANSWER: C — Argentina
La Plata, Argentina, to Italian parents — and he then played at every single World Cup from 2003 through to 2019.
Questions 6–10: for the ones who actually watch
6. Who finished the try for the Barbarians against New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park in 1973?
A. Phil Bennett
B. Gareth Edwards
C. JPR Williams
D. Derek Quinnell
ANSWER: B — Gareth Edwards
Phil Bennett started it with three sidesteps deep inside his own 22 and the whole move took less than half a minute. The Barbarians won 23-11.
7. Scotland and Ireland play each year in the Six Nations for which trophy?
A. The Centenary Quaich
B. The Calcutta Cup
C. The Millennium Trophy
D. The Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy
ANSWER: A — The Centenary Quaich
There are four side-trophies buried inside the Six Nations: the Calcutta Cup is England v Scotland, the Millennium Trophy is England v Ireland and the Garibaldi Trophy is France v Italy.
8. Who captained South Africa to the 1995 Rugby World Cup title?
A. Joost van der Westhuizen
B. Os du Randt
C. Francois Pienaar
D. James Small
ANSWER: C — Francois Pienaar
Os du Randt packed down at loosehead in that final aged 22, then won the World Cup all over again twelve years later in 2007.
9. Hugo Porta, the fly-half who later served as his country's ambassador to South Africa, played his Test rugby for which nation?
A. Uruguay
B. Chile
C. Spain
D. Argentina
ANSWER: D — Argentina
In 1982 Porta scored all 21 points as a South American XV beat the Springboks 21-12 in Bloemfontein.
10. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe scored eight tries in a single Rugby World Cup match in 2017. Which country was she playing for?
A. England
B. Canada
C. New Zealand
D. Australia
ANSWER: C — New Zealand
The Black Ferns beat Hong Kong 121-0 that afternoon, and Woodman finished the 2017 tournament with 13 tries.
Questions 11–15: the brutal five
11. Who scored the first try in Rugby World Cup history, in the opening match of the 1987 tournament?
A. John Kirwan
B. David Kirk
C. Michael Jones
D. Craig Green
ANSWER: C — Michael Jones
New Zealand beat Italy 70-6 at Eden Park. Jones, a devout Christian who would not play on Sundays, was left out of the 1995 squad because of it.
12. Who was the first player in history to win 100 international caps?
A. David Campese
B. Philippe Sella
C. Serge Blanco
D. Rory Underwood
ANSWER: B — Philippe Sella
Sella reached the mark in 1994 on France's tour of New Zealand and finished his career on 111 caps.
13. Which country won the first Women's Rugby World Cup, staged in Wales in 1991?
A. England
B. United States
C. New Zealand
D. France
ANSWER: B — United States
The United States beat England 19-6 at Cardiff Arms Park in front of roughly 3,000 people, and the tournament was not formally recognised as a World Cup until 2009.
14. Who was the first player ever sent off at a Rugby World Cup?
A. Federico Mendez (Argentina)
B. Huw Richards (Wales)
C. Buck Shelford (New Zealand)
D. Kevin Moseley (Wales)
ANSWER: B — Huw Richards (Wales)
Richards threw a punch in the 1987 semi-final, was knocked out cold by Buck Shelford, came round and was then shown the line — while Shelford stayed on the field.
15. Michael Lynagh retired after the 1995 World Cup as the leading points scorer in Test history. How many Test points did he finish with?
A. 703
B. 811
C. 911
D. 1,003
ANSWER: C — 911
911 points in 72 Tests for Australia — a world record when he walked away, and still the Wallaby record as of the 2024/25 season.
How you scored
14–15 — Living Legend. That is not fandom, that is an archive. Somebody in this house knows exactly which shelf the old yearbooks are on, and everyone else in the room is quietly grateful for it.
11–13 — Extreme Fan. The records round was built to stop you and it did not quite manage it. You have watched the eras rather than the highlight reels, and it shows in the back five.
6–10 — Proper Supporter. Strong through the middle. You know the players, you know the eras, and then questions eleven to fifteen mugged you the way they mug almost everybody. Nothing to apologise for.
0–5 — Weekend Watcher. Six Nations, World Cup, the odd big Saturday with the family. That is most of the crowd and the game needs it. Run it again — half of these will stick now.
Where the arguing usually starts
Question eight is the one that splits a room. Francois Pienaar lifted the trophy in 1995, but the man beside him in that front row, Os du Randt, won it twice — twelve years apart. That second win came off a bench culture South Africa has been refining ever since, and it is the through-line in every fixture and result in Rugby's Greatest Rivalry.
Question fifteen tends to be the one people refuse to believe. Michael Lynagh walked away in 1995 as the highest points scorer the game had produced, and inside a decade the number looked ordinary. That is what professionalism did to the record books, and it is why this quiz pins every record to a date instead of pretending they hold.
If the greats argument is the part you came for, the site has form on it: the three greatest players Eddie Jones says he ever coached, Springboks legends settling the ultimate flyhalf debate, and the greatest coach argument, Hansen against Erasmus. For the try-scoring end of it, the best tries the rivalry has produced is the one that eats an afternoon.
Read next: Rugby World Cup 2027: the full pools and the draw that handed the hosts an All Blacks showdown
Your score goes in the comments
Post the number. Not the tier, the number — and say which one you got wrong that you should have had. Question five catches people who have watched Parisse for fifteen years, the 1991 Women's World Cup answer catches people who have followed the game for forty, and question fifteen catches nearly everybody.
If you scored 14 or 15, name the question you had to think hardest about. That is the one worth arguing over.
