New Zealand legend Dan Carter ranks his five toughest opponents

he greatest back of the professional era, Carter’s record speaks for itself. Way out in front as the leading points scorer in international rugby history, with 1,598 points from his 112 caps, he won two Rugby World Cup’s.

Sourcing several Q&A's from down the years, including one with the Independent, here is his top five:

DID YOU KNOW? In the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final against Australia, Dan Carter kicked four penalties, two conversions and a drop goal, and was named the man of the match.

Carter said: "Two giants of the game that have worn the green jersey were Paul O'Connell and Brian O'Driscoll. Their work rate and how they conducted themselves on and off the pitch was exemplary."

He is devoted to Manchester United and his boyhood hero was Mark Hughes

O’Driscoll’s father, Frank, played two games for Ireland and an uncle, Barry, won four caps

His final appearance for Leinster, and for any team, was in the 2014 Pro12 Grand Final on 31 May in Leinster’s home ground, the RDS in Dublin, in which Leinster defeated the Glasgow Warriors 34-12

His most oft-quoted line was delivered at a press conference at Croke Park before an England match in 2009: “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” 

O’Driscoll was chosen as Player of the Tournament in the 2006, 2007 and 2009 RBS Six Nations Championships.

CARTER SAID: “He had some blinding games in big moments — none more so than in the 2007 and 2011 World Cup games against the All Blacks.”

DID YOU KNOW? He broke the record for most tackles in a match, making 38 tackles against the All Blacks in the 2007 World Cup final

Carter said: "He was the toughest player. I played against him once, I was 19-year-old and tried to tackle him, kinda woke up five metres back. He changed the game of rugby.

He weighed 120 kg and was 1.96 metres tall, but could run 100 metres in 10.8 seconds

In 1996, McDonald’s New Zealand named a burger after Lomu

He’s the only rugby player ever to feature on the front cover of TIME magazine

According to the Telegraph, Leeds were ready to make a third bid to attract All Blacks giant Jonah Lomu to England in 2001

He played 63 tests as an All Black, scoring 37 tries

In 2001 he helped New Zealand win the Rugby World Cup Sevens.

Carter said: “A real competitor and absolute top bloke off the field as well. His mindset was a little bit different when he was out there competing. That just made him such a tough opponent to come up against.”

Carter said: "You might of heard of him? Former England captain and Toulon player Jonny is probably the closest thing I've seen to the perfect rugby player.

"He was an absolute student of the game,"

“It was a wild, windy test match down in Wellington, I was on the bench and I hadn’t played a test match for the All Blacks, and he just took that game and, as a 10 that wants to control a game, I’ve never seen anything like it.

“I got the best seats in the house on the bench. Part of me was going, ‘Man, do I really want to get on here because he’s just completely dominating this game’.

“Thankfully I didn’t. I made my test debut the following week, which was a much better game to remember, but I just remember sitting there going, ‘If I ever do play 10’ – I was playing 12 a lot then – ‘this is how you need to control a game’.

“I had a huge amount of respect for him and playing against him.”

Wilkinson’s brother, Mark, was also a Newcastle player who made 16 appearances in the Premiership for the side between 2002 and 2005, predominantly as a centre. His father, Phil, was a rugby player and cricketer, and his mother, Philippa, played squash at county level.  His grandfather, Phil, also played football for Norwich.

When former England centre Jeremy Guscott walked into the dressing room on the day of Wilkinson’s international debut, he thought the 18-year-old had won a competition to spend the day with the national team.

Wilkinson followed Buddhist principles and teachings to help control his perfectionist tendencies, according to an interview he gave with The Times newspaper in 2009.

Jonny and Shelley became parents for the first time in late 2018. They keep their private life pretty much on lockdown, but according to reports, they had a little boy called James while they were still living in France.

Wilkinson is currently a studio pundit for ITV Sport, working on their coverage of the Six Nations Championship, Rugby World Cup and other rugby events.