Who was the better outhalf?

Ruck Inspector

Johnny Wilkinson

• 91 caps
• 1246 international points
• 7 tries
• 1 World Cup
• 1 Grand Slam
• 6 Lions Caps
• 67 Lions Points

Ronan O'Gara

• 128 caps
• 1083 international points
• 16 tries
• 2 Heinken Cups
• 1 Grand Slam
• 2 Lions Caps
• 0 Lions Points

Stephen Jones

• 104 caps
• 917 international points
• 7 tries
• 2 Grand Slams
• 6 Lions Caps
• 53 Lions Points

sweetie

Ronan O'Gara

the order you put it in is about right

.ak

Ronan O'Gara

Wilko for me.

Fireball07

Stephen Jones

How can I not say ROG? Fantastic player.

SkadooshJ

Johnny Wilkinson by a long distance.

trouttrout

In their prime I'd have ROG every day of the week.

sydthebeat

Stephen Jones

All 3 predominately "kicking" 10's..... so from that basis id have ROG first for his ability to 'general' a game.
Jonny was metronomic and cool as ice, and benefited from a beast of a pack in front.
Jones, while not at the level as the other two, still deserves to be included in the debate.

Buer

Can I open a can of worms and say all of them were overrated in ways?!

As an all round player, Stephen Jones was probably the best at his peak, for me. The other two were much better at very specific elements of the game though and, in the right teams, were far more effective due to the packs they played behind. A bloke who played in parallel with them and was far better than any of them was Larkham, I reckon.

.ak

Ronan O'Gara

I think Wilko has been subject to overhype, but he deserved every last drop of it in the early 00's.

darragh_haven

I can see this thread going to hell in a handcart. .....
In the op's order of listing in my opinion away

thomond2006

Ronan O'Gara

Wilkinson's stats would be a lot more impressive if he didn't lose so many years of international rugby because of injury.

vienne86

Ronan O'Gara

All very good, and as pointed out earlier, all kicking outhalves. I would put Johnny first, then ROG, then Jones.....and Johnny is still going well for Toulon.

beertons

Was and is Wilko for me.

Buer

.ak wrote: »

I think Wilko has been subject to overhype, but he deserved every last drop of it in the early 00's.

I think he was actually much better in the 2001-03 6N than he ever was in the 2003 WC where the pressure and attention pushed him close to breaking point. If you look back specifically at his performances during that tournament, he actually wasn't that good. Looked to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. A combination of Freddie Michalak, his pack and Mike Catt bailed him out a few times that tournament.

EDIT: Just looking back on the actual stats from the knock outs in that tournament, Australia were 4/7 kicks in the final, France 1/5 in the semi and Wales were 1/5. Just goes to show how important nailing your kicks is at that level.

BQQ

Stephen Jones

Bit of a surprise that ROG scored so many more tries than the other two.

Wilkinson benefitted from a dominant pack and his kicking from hand never matched his excellent goalkicking.

Rog for me.

corny

Ronan O'Gara

1. Wilkinson: Easily the best before 2004. Ferocious in the tackle, brilliant kicker and not as a bad a playmaker as some made out.
2. Jones: Super pass and all round good player. Always ahead of ROG when it came to the Lions.
3. ROG: Great kicker and great man under pressure but last because of his obvious weakness in the tackle. Never really threatened the gain line either, especially earlier in his career.

Fireball07

Stephen Jones

corny wrote: »

1. Wilkinson: Easily the best before 2004. Ferocious in the tackle, brilliant kicker and not as a bad a playmaker as some made out.
2. Jones: Super pass and all round good player. Always ahead of ROG when it came to the Lions.
3. ROG: Great kicker and great man under pressure but last because of his obvious weakness in the tackle. Never really threatened the gain line either, especially earlier in his career.

Still scored twice as many tries as the others.

Ruck Inspector

Ronan O'Gara

Fireball07 wrote: »

Still scored twice as many tries as the others.

Not exactly an indicator of his ability to threaten the line.

trouttrout

Ruck Inspector wrote: »

Not exactly an indicator of his ability to threaten the line.

It is really

4 or 5 years ago ROG was an integral cog in the attractive back-play we managed under EOS

His play over the last year or so seems to have fogged peoples memories because he was very capable with the ball in his hand

corny

Ronan O'Gara

trouttrout wrote: »

It is really

4 or 5 years ago ROG was an integral cog in the attractive back-play we managed under EOS

His play over the last year or so seems to have fogged peoples memories because he was very capable with the ball in his hand

Capable passer yes.

Man for threatening a line break? Absolutely not. Very often turned over when he took the ball into contact.

Fireball07

Stephen Jones

Ruck Inspector wrote: »

Not exactly an indicator of his ability to threaten the line.

If he was as weak at it as some people make it, there's no way he'd score that many tries. Truth is, ROG was not terrible in that area. He was able to take the ball on, and make linebreaks...and did so quite regularly.

He was no Carter or Larkham in that area but he wasn't terrible. And he had a fantastic pass. When EOS was in charge, ROG was integral in getting the best out of a very talented backline.

trouttrout

corny wrote: »

Capable passer yes.

Man for threatening a line break? Absolutely not. Very often turned over when he took the ball into contact.

What do you mean by turned over?

Ruck Inspector

Ronan O'Gara

trouttrout wrote: »

It is really

no it is not.

all you have to do is watch his international tries very few came from him breaking the line after taking the ball as first receiver.

So to say because he scored x amount of tries therefore he was ability to threaten the line was very good would not be true.

jamiedav2011

Ronan O'Gara

Carter in a league of his own, better than all three.

Wilko - ROG - Jones after that for me.

Think Larkham deserves a mention in this area for me. Completely different player but had some serious moments too.

trouttrout

Ruck Inspector wrote: »

no it is not.

Anything more substantial to add?

Swiwi

Ronan O'Gara

Wilkinson without a doubt. Struck fear into NZ rugby at his peak. For reasons I don't quite understand ROG was always underwhelming against the ABs. Stephen Jones was a reasonable goalkicker.

Swiwi

Ronan O'Gara

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

Carter in a league of his own, better than all three.

Wilko - ROG - Jones after that for me.

Think Larkham deserves a mention in this area for me. Completely different player but had some serious moments too.

+1. Larkham converted from FB to 10, and he was a damn fine player.

bilston

Ronan O'Gara

Wilkinson at his best was better than either O'Gara or Jones. But it was all a bit fleeting.

However for longevity then I'd give it to ROG (albeit Wilkinson is playing better now, but then he is younger). Jones was (is? has he retired yet?) a good player too but just a bit behind the other day. I'd put Humphreys ahead of Jones as well.

bilston

Ronan O'Gara

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

Think Larkham deserves a mention in this area for me. Completely different player but had some serious moments too.

Lucky he wasn't Irish since he couldn't kick.

trouttrout

Ruck Inspector wrote: »

no it is not.

all you have to do is watch his international tries very few came from him breaking the line after taking the ball as first receiver.

So to say because he scored x amount of tries therefore he was ability to threaten the line was very good would not be true.

But you don't need to be the first receiver to threaten the line

As Fireball said, the best we saw of ROG with ball in hand was during the days of EOS where he was an important part of a very talented backline, using his passing and very often linking up after an initial break to score a try

Ruck Inspector

Ronan O'Gara

trouttrout wrote: »

Anything more substantial to add?

check again