Top 5 for Friday - ALL BLACK

There is a gentleman up at one of our northern libraries who is steadily working through the biographies of some of our best rugby players. I know this because I was serving him one day and he started to try and explain who T.P. McLean was. However country girl and rugby nut that I am, I was way ahead of him and we ended up talking tours and teams from the 1970's (when you got up in the middle of the night for a special broadcast long after the Goodnight Kiwi had gone to bed) right through to the present day.

So in honour of said gentleman and all those other rugby officianado's out there (both existing and newly converted), today's Top 5 honours some of our best to pull on the ALL BLACK jersey.

1. George Nepia. There are a number of biographies about this great player. I, George Nepia has been revised several times with the latest being a 2002 edition.


2. Colin Meads. aka Pinetree (or Sir Pinetree). More than an autobiography. Colin Meads is considered to be one of the greatest rugby players in New Zealand. Here, he dips back into his playing career and offers comparisons with the modern game. It becomes a social commentary - how professionalism has changed the face of rugby forever. And how the modern player has taken up the challenge


3. Stu Wilson and Bernie Fraser. aka Ebony and Ivory. So often it is not just great players but great partnerships that we remember. After Bryan Williams and before Jeff Wilson came this mischevous duo of Wellington wingers.


4. Jonah Lomu. You almost don't need to add his surname. And we couldn't have a Top 5 list without him on it.


5. And finally the man who we hope on Sunday will be lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy aloft... Richie McCaw. From the front flap: a tribute to a modern-day rugby great charts the career of the proud Canterbury and Crusaders star who first burst into the national rugby consciousness in 2001 when he helped his province to an NPC championship. Soon after, he was making his All Blacks debut in Dublin, beginning a test career that will ultimately culminate at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

There are so many I could have put on this list, it was hard to stop at 5. If you want to read up on some of the others do a subject search for Rugby Union football players -- New Zealand -- Biography. Or if you want to read about Tours, statistics and everything else to do with the All Blacks here is another link.

So all that's left is to stand up and shout - GO THE ALL BLACKS! Finish the job boys.