Sexton was brilliant but not close to O’Driscoll IMO. From his first game (hat trick away to France) to the last (winning 6N) he was unbelievable. Remember the whole drama when he got spear tackled by NZ for the Lions and everyone thought there was no chance of winning without him.
AWJ is def up there for his leadership and longevity. Hard as nails.
Yes BoD was fantastic but my angle is influence on teams which is where Sexton shined. He defined those Irish sides, they were essentially built around him. This is what France are doing now. They give a platform and allow Dupont to do what he does.
If it’s the spectacular we’re after, then there’s Shane Williams, Finn Russel, BoD to name 3.
Nobody “shined”. 
Got me there. Shines, shone
I thought you were using the irritating Americanism of “shined” instead of “shone”. 
You mean using the present tense to talk about the past?
I hate that too.
I blame Trump and possibly several concussions
You know what is worse? When British English speakers forget the difference between the past participle and the simple past, then pretend that it was always that way. It has gotten quite tiresome.
I find the premise a little odd. Sure, Dupont is a fantastic player, but don’t you have to win the tournament a fair number of times to rate ‘greatest player’? It would be one thing if he was a lone superstar carrying an otherwise limited team, but that is not exactly France in the past 8 years or so.
Fixed. Trying so hard to get back in @cynicaloldgit’s good books.
It’s bizarre isn’t it?
I still believe he is currently the best on the planet at the moment. I think the game is so finely balanced at the top these days that there’s a gnats whisker between them. In another universe France win tournaments.
France are definitely not the same animal without him. Last years 6 nations proved that with him away playing 7’s.
The man he replaced was previously regarded as probably ireland’s most successful fly half and was a key player in multiple triple crowns and at least one championship/grand slam. I think that severely diminishes claims to Sexton’s unique influence on the success of the side.
Fair point though they beat everyone apart from an excellent Ireland in the past 2 tournaments and won it the year before. I think he’s got player of the tournament 4 times and he didn’t play last year.
On the eye test alone I’ve never seen a player quite like him
Definitely agree that it is hard to find a player to compare him to.
In terms of who else it might be, O’Driscoll is a good shout. Wyn Jones has an incredible record, but plays a position that isn’t going to readily earn ‘greatest player’ in any directly measurable way. Wilkinson would have to be up there as well, but I guess his career ended before the player of the tournament award was ever given out.
I guess I would have to say O’Driscoll overall, for the inverse of the reason I wonder about giving Dupont that plaudit. I just don’t think either of those Ireland sides were that good, in terms of the talent base I would have to put the current incarnation well ahead.
Sorry natural Welsh reflex action
I did have to suppress some discomfort typing that…
O’Gara doesn’t count, he was born in the US.
Seriously, 4 triple crowns and 1 grand slam and a seriously pin point kicking game.
I’ll go with Ireland having 2 players that defined them.
He might be in with a shout for best player+coach combo
I think I’m witnessing the dumbest international side ever. Toss up between the Welsh first 15 and the U20’s.
This is really terrible. I don’t know if Wales were this inept even during the nadir of the early 90s
What is striking to me is that physically they look like a bunch of amateurs. I get you don’t HAVE to be Hercules to play international rugby, but across the entire team the look more like a group of normal men off the street who show up once a week to play than professional athletes in a combat sport