Players / High Five / Zinzan Brooke

He was ruthless, just a dog, and Buck did all the right things at the scrum. He varied his game going from the loose to the tight, and when he needed to keep it tight, he'd tuck the ball up and drive it through the guts.

 

He never liked playing on the back-foot and because he was so competitive and such a raw talent, he very rarely was. Buck knew how to play right on the line of the law. He was one of the greats

 

Buck was bloody powerful he always seemed to make the right decisions - he was a leader of men.

 

Willie possessed all of Buck’s qualities and more. He was a big defensive player. You knew when he'd hit you because he loved making those big tackles.

 

He was like a new breed of No.8. It wasn't always about the feeder of ball, whose role was to control it, Willie would pick it up and attack off it.

 

No.8’s along with the half-back’s should be the most important and skilful players in a team, because you need to know how and when to operate at all times, especially under pressure, and Willie had all that in abundance

When he was in his prime and Lawrence had ball in hand, the sheer power he exerted and the pace at which he did it was brutal. He wasn’t the best passer of the ball but he got by and he was so adept at picking the ball up and setting up the next wave of attack

 

When he'd pick the ball off the back of the scrum it’d always take a couple of guys to bring him down. Tacklers would jump on top of him and he would just carry them with such ease and total disregard.

 

He was big, quick and strong, with immense power and pace off the tail of the scrum and they are all the ingredients of a good No.8

His ability to read the game was sensational. He didn't have a kick like me, but he didn't need too because he was strong like Lawrence Dallaglio.

 

I always thought he looked good when the team was going backwards and he’d always get you out of the crap.

 

He stood out because he was playing for Samoa. He proved it wasn't just about going forward and was very clever at choosing the moments when to pick it up and turn a bad situation into a good one.

He was a mongrel, he had that hard-nosed edge. He had the ferocity of a tiger, a warrior, but he wasn’t one of these flash types. He was a go-forward ball carrier, so devastating, and just smash his way through countless amounts of tackles and he had no respect for his body.

 

He was a very solid all-round player. He knew all the tricks of the trade and understood all about pressure, and timing, and what needed to be done and where it needed to be done.

 

What's more he was an inspirational talisman for France because he had to deal with a lot of  intolerance issues off the field, but he was the kind of guy you wanted on your shoulder if you were about to smash into a ruck.