In what is certainly no easy task, here is our ranking for the top three Springbok No 8s of all time, having considered players from every era.
TOP THREE SPRINGBOK NO 8s OF ALL TIME
1 Duane Vermeulen
A titan of Springbok rugby. The recently-retired double World Cup winner put his body on the line time and time again for the national cause, with his abilities as a ball carrier, defensive kingpin and breakdown threat placing him in a class of his own.
Vermeulen’s illustrious Springbok career spanned 76 Tests over 11 seasons and if it wasn’t for injuries, he would surely have racked up a century of appearances in the green and gold. Not to mention the fact he only made his debut at the age of 26.
Vermeulen was one of those players that any teammate would want to ‘go to war’ with, and he defined what it meant to be a Springbok ‘warrior’.
2 Hennie Muller
Another icon of the sport, Muller redefined the role of the eighthman in many ways during a whirlwind career from 1949-53 in which he played 13 Tests (nine as captain).
Nicknamed “Windhond“, or greyhound, he was one of fastest back row forwards of that time and had all the skills of a backline player. He was simply ahead of his time in so many ways.
As legend has it, against the All Blacks of 1949, Muller was so destructive at eighthman – becoming renowned for running down opposition backline players – that there were calls for the laws to be changed.
What a legacy he left behind.
3 Morne du Plessis
A true legend of South African rugby, Du Plessis earned 22 caps between 1970 and 1980, but this figure would undoubtedly have been much higher if not for the apartheid policies that isolated the Springboks.
Over his career, Du Plessis only ended up on the losing side in four Tests and was part of epic victories over the likes of New Zealand as well as the British & Irish Lions (in 1980).
Du Plessis established himself as one of South Africa’s greatest rugby players and leaders (captaining the team in his last 15 games), and he remains universally admired around the rugby world.
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