LIST: Rory Best & the 5 oldest players at the Rugby World Cup
Rugby NewsMonday, 09 September 2019 at 11:06
You’re only as old as you feel. Whoever is going to win the 2019 Rugby World Cup will need a healthy blend of youth and experience. Certainly, the latter will be on show when it all kicks off next week.
You want the guys who have been there, done it, got the t-shirt and watched World Cups when the TVs were all black and white. The senior brigade are set to descend upon Japan, so let’s hope these multi-million dollar stadiums come equipped with easy elevator access and walk-in baths.
Okay, perhaps we're exaggerating here. These athletes have kept themselves match-fit and at the top of their game for the last twenty years.
Who are the oldest players at the Rugby World Cup 2019?
5- Rory Best (15/08/92, 37-years-old)
Ireland: 120 caps
The Ireland captain will retire from rugby - 14 years after his international debut - when his country's World Cup campaign ends. Best started his international career in 2005 against New Zealand as he was introduced as a replacement to an Ireland front row that included his brother Simon.
4- Tusi Pisi (18/06/82, 37-years-old)
Samoa: 35 caps
He is an exciting fly-half talent, with a deadly kicking game. Pisi's goal-kicking was instrumental in the defeat of Australia in July 2011 and he's still a key part of their set-up
3- Hubert Buydens (04/01/82, 37-years-old)
Canada: 53 caps
The best beard in rugby. He is a tall and powerful prop forward, capable of playing on both sides of the scrum. He first featured for Canada as a substitute against England A in 2006.
2- Schalk Brits (16/05/81, 38-years-old)
South Africa: 13 caps
The Saracens legend retired at the end of the 2017/18 Premiership season before Rassie Erasmus offered him a belated route back into Test rugby which explained why, within weeks of supposedly riding off into the sunset, he reappeared for South Africa against England at Cape Town last year.
Now, 15 months later, in his 39th year, he has made the biggest come-back of all straight into the World Cup, consolidating his status as the daddy of the old stagers.
1- Luke Thompson (16/04/81, 38-years-old)
Japan: 63 caps
The New Zealand-born lock will be the oldest player at the Rugby World Cup after being named in Jamie Joseph's 31-man party for the September 20 to November 2 tournament. He obtained Japanese citizenship in July 2011 after 7 years in Japan, and is well settled.
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