Gareth Edwards voted the best ever rugby player to come from the United Kingdom

In a 2003 poll conducted by Rugby World magazine, Edwards was named the greatest rugby player of all time by international players.

Will Carling, a former England captain, ranked Edwards as the top player in his list of the '50 Greatest Rugby players' published in The Daily Telegraph in 2007.

Carling stated "He was a supreme athlete with supreme skills, the complete package. He played in the 1970s, but, if he played now, he would still be the best. He was outstanding at running, passing, kicking and reading the game. He sits astride the whole of rugby as the ultimate athlete on the pitch."

etween 1967 and 1978 Edwards won 53 caps for Wales, including 13 as captain. All his caps were won in succession; he never had a dip in form or an injury that would allow anybody else to take his place. He scored twenty tries in internationals.

Edwards also played ten times for the British & Irish Lions, playing for the 1971 Lions team that was the only such team to win a series in New Zealand, and for the unbeaten 1974 side in South Africa.

#50. Mike Tindall (England)

#49. Scott Quinnell (Wales)

#48. Matt Dawson (England)

#47. Will Carling (England)

#46. Scott Hastings (Scotland)

#45. Jonny May (England)

#44. Finlay Calder (Scotland)

#43. Maro Itoje (England)

#42. Rob Howley (Wales)

#41. Adam Jones (Wales)

#40. Peter Winterbottom (England)

#39. Andy Irvine (Scotland)

#38. David Sole (Scotland)

#37. Scott Gibbs (Wales)

#36. Lewis Moody (England)

#35. Chris Paterson (Scotland

#34. Mervyn Davies (Wales)

#33. Rory Underwood (England)

#31. Fran Cotton (England)

#30. George North (Wales)

#29. Will Greenwood (England)

#28. Tom Smith (Scotland)

#27. Phil Vickery (England)

#26. Graham Price (Wales)

#25. Neil Back (England)

#24. Brian Moore (England)

#23. Bill Beaumont (England)

#22. Phil Bennett (Wales)

#21. Jeremy Guscott (England)

#20. Stuart Hogg (Scotland)

#19. Gerald Davies (Wales)

#18. Gavin Hastings (Scotland)

#17. Richard Hill (England)

#16. Jason Leonard (England)

#15. Taulupe Faletau (Wales)

#14. Doddie Weir (Scotland)

#13. Jason Robinson (England)

#12. Ben Youngs (England)

#11. Sam Warburton (Wales)

#10. Lawrence Dallaglio (England)

#9. Martyn Williams (Wales)

#8. Owen Farrell (England)

#7. JPR Williams (Wales)

#6. Shane Williams (Wales)

#5. Barry John (Wales)

#4. Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)

#3. Jonny Wilkinson (England)

#2. Martin Johnson (England)

#1. Gareth Edwards (Wales)