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Andre Boniface, John Eales, Grant Fox, Ian McGeechan, Naas Botha, Fred Allen,
Keith Wood, Phil Bennett and Martin Johnson
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“I am sure there are thousands of rugby lovers, from all corners of the earth, who would give their right arm to be with us tonight as we hail the twelve inductees into our International Hall of Fame.” The words are those of Cliff Morgan, one of the first inductees in 1997 and surely the most charismatic and best-loved of the 55 legends now in the Hall of Fame.
Hundreds of rugby folk witnessed at first hand the latest dozen inductees who included the last three World Cup winning captains (Martin Johnson, John Eales and Francois Pienaar), a Lions captain (Phil Bennett), a victorious Lions coach (Ian McGeechan), the prince of French centres (Andre Boniface), an icon of Irish rugby (Keith Wood) and two champion points scorers (Grant Fox and Naas Botha) as they joined the most select group in world rugby.
Also inducted in this special year a century after the All Blacks first toured abroad were Gwyn Nicholls and Dave Gallaher, respective captains in the epic Wales v New Zealand match of 1905.
And it was left to another very special inductee, 85-year-old All Black player and coach Fred Allen, to put everyone’s feelings into words. He said, “It’s impossible to convey to you just how proud and humble I feel at this moment. It is not only the playing of the game that matters, it’s the lifetime of friendships it provides. These are gifts that money can’t buy.”
In addition the evening was graced by many current Inductees: Gareth Edwards, Gavin Hastings, Michael Lynagh, Sean Fitzpatrick, Philippe Sella, Mike Gibson, JPR Williams, Brian Lochore, Cliff Morgan, Barry John and Jack Kyle.
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