I’d have Richard Hill over Neil Back every day of the week, without any hesitation whatsoever.
There are so many to choose from and the vast differences between all of the positions makes that decision all the more difficult. That’s why I went Edwards, I reckon he could have almost played anywhere. Plus he scored the greatest try of all time. 
And he gets a gazillion points head start for being from Gods country.
I thought about this and went for Back because of what he bought in cheek and how easily he got away with it for me that gave an edge Hill didn’t have (albeit a dissagreeable trait but one that’s very important in ‘sport’). There is a story that during a match Back hit the ref on realising he’s hit the ref he is reported as to have said ‘Oh! sorry I thought you were ‘Andy’ (Robinson)’, you know what he got away with it. (Btw i don’t know if this is true but hey we’re talking rugby here.
It’s a sport where the roles are so different you really need one for each category. I elevate Props because it’s a game of confrontation and that’s where it starts, props and hookers, and the game is so shit without good scrums. Also scrum halves the agility needed both in mind and body is phenomenal so at least we can agree on Gareth Edwards.
Born in Wales, schooled in England 
Edwards is a good shout. Will Carling ranked him the greatest player of all time in 2007. There are a number of exceptional players through the eras, so difficult to compare them. A personal favourite of mine was the late great Joost Van Der Westhuizen. Exceptional athlete.
I just remember Hill being far more flexible and his performance in the 2001 Lions tour. He dominated George Smith until Scott Quinnell was forced off. That put D’Laglio at 8, Hill at blind side (open side previously) and Back came on. We never got an parity at the breakdown after that as no one knocked George Smith off the ball. Subsequently ended up losing that second Test.
Know thy enemy!
Joost is an great shout. As a member of the scrum half union I used both be in awe of him and absolutely loath the man for his constant ability to score against Wales. He scored 38 tries in 89 appearances for South Africa. That is astounding by any player. So sad what has happened since but along with Doddie Weir and now Rob Burrow whether there is some connection between head injuries and that horrible disease.
On Tyson. To put bloody Wilder in the same bracket as Tyson is terrible in my opinion. I have no problems with your Ali analogy and thesis though. I don’t know.
The boxing one is a tough one.
Ali, Frasier, Marciano, Holmes, Sugar Ray Robinson, Mayweather, Pacquiao, and without any bias Calzaghe too maybe (his records deserves some recognition at least)
And that encapsulates the problem: most sports have several candidates for the “greatest ever” title.
The exceptions are few- Bradman, Taylor (darts)… not many others are undisputed in their own field.
You just can’t look past Lomu for rugby, he revolutionized the game. McCaw a very close 2nd.
Ah ok
Maybe a bit awkward in explanation. Just really never rated Tyson as being in the really all time great champions
Hagler, Duran, Leonard, Collins loads of contenders but for me Ali stands way above them all. Masterful
I don’t think NFL deserves to be in this conversation; may as well have the GOAT as someone who played AFL or tiddlywinks.
However if we are going into the more niche sports - and cricket fits here - then cyclings cannibal is a notable absence. Eddie Merckx was and remains unparalleled in a sport of absolute endurance.
11 Grand Tours; all five Monuments and 3 Worlds. Plus the hour record and almost every major one-day race. No riders have managed to cross over from tours to classics like he did never mind completely dominate the sport and no one ever will.
A more impressive record than Don ‘I hit fewer sixes in my career than most modern day tailenders; couldn’t score runs in my final innings to save my average if my life depended upon it and am generally a mean spirited aloof captain’* Bradman.
Sorry Kopstar realised you’d already included Merckx under cycling. Well just to give his nomination more weight, I think his achievements in the sport are much more significant than, say Roger Federer in tennis who has at least two very close peers when it comes to silverware.
Listed him in my original post mate. Not sure I’d describe cricket as a niche sport, mind. Isn’t it one of the top five most played sports in the world?
He probably is but he was also a drug taker which if we’re going there then you have to put him up against others in that category.
The ubiquitous cycling doping of the 1970s didn’t give Merckx the edge unlike EPO with Armstrong so I don’t think thats especially relevant.
Not to get embroiled too deeply into that and take the thread off topic too far but many of the riders dring Armstrong’s era were also on EPO. He was far from alone in that regard.
Why not?
It’s a great game with an enormous anount of strategy and very diverse postions. The QB is the boss but just like in rugby he’s usless without his nose, guards, tackles, running backs and recievers.
Seems so snobbish to exclude such a sport when we are on a football forum.
Only because of the subcontinent. Although for some reason the Indians (especially) are not nearly as good at the game as they should be. So the talent pool is so much smaller than say 20% of football. Although this obviously applies even more in a sport like cycling where it was very much a subculture of a handful of European countries supplying the talent pool.
Ultimately the GOAT should be a footballer really: Messi; Pele; Maradona; Lucas Leiva. Take your pick.