Rugby World- Rugby's Top Ten Haircuts

Featured in the January 2007 edition of the largest British rugby magazine, Rugby World, London:


They say a woman's hair is her crowning glory and the same is true of some rugby players, whose barnets have made a big impact. We count down the greatest dos- or should that be don'ts?- that have graced the game

10. Joe Worsley
Some might say it was an experiment that went drastically wrong, and most would agree.

When London Wasps and England back-rower Joe Worsley stepped out at Twickenham for the 2001 Middlesex Sevens, spectators were more concerned with his strange spiked barnet than his rugby. The Sun's Tony Roche described the style as "the daftest hairdo in English rugby". He wrote that Worsley "turned heads with a spiky cut that must have had some of the RFU's old brigade squirming in their armchairs."

The new do failed to distract Wasps' opponents at the sevens, however, as they lost their opening match to the British Army to bow out of the tournament. Worsley's experiment was confirmed to the depths of his barber's floor.

9. Will Greenwood
Never one to shirk a contentious decision, Harlequins' Will Greenwood shocked many when he bleached his hair in October 2000- and it proved a successful move.

The centre was the star of the 2001 Six Nations campaign, scoring a superb hat-trick for England against Wales at the Millenium Stadium. He touched down in the first four fixtures before Ireland ruined the Grand Slam party in a rescheduled showdown at Lansdowne Road the following autumn.

The white locks stayed for that summer's Lions tour, Greenwood saying: "The bleach was originally done for my birthday party in October to scare a few people. I had a reasonable run of luck and now my mother won't let me change it."

Greenwood retired last season after helping Harlequins return to the Guinness Premiership, and the only colour he provided in his new job as Sky TV pundit is confined to his forthright views.

8. George Smith
The most famous dreadlocks in rugby disappeared from our game in the summer of 2006 when George Smith decided it was time for his first haircut in eight years. "It wasn't the pulling, I felt it would be good to get rid of the long hair," says Smith, who saw his hair pulled by England captain Pat Sanderson in June.

"It just got too hard to manage," he adds, "It's been a long time since I've had a haircut, so I thought it was about time."

When it all came off there were 105 braids in total, Smith putting them to good use by combining with Sydney's The Daily Telegraph to auction some of them off for Canteen, the Australian organisation that supports young people with cancer.

7. Trevor Leota
After he joined Wasps in 1997, Samoan hooker Trevor Leota soon became a crowd favourite, thanks to his distinct yellow and black striped hair.

Over the years Leota experimented with many colours, but his most outrageous blend came at the 1999 World Cup when Samoa faced Japan. A nauseous mix of yellow, blue and pink graced his hair that day.

And his explanation of the colouring: "I've been doing it for ages. It was meant to be blue and red against Japan. I think the red doesn't mix with the blonde and it went pink. I'm just glad it washed out.2

Leota left Wasps last year to play for Western Force in the Super 14.

6. Rupert Moon
Llanelli captain Rupert Moon won the first of his 24 Wales caps in 1993, after waiting on the bench for more than a year as Robert Jones held the No 9 jersey. Unluckily for Moon, Rob Howley came onto the scene soon after, limiting his chances. Whereas Howley has the skill, Moon was a leader. As the Llanelli Star put it: "Moon's pass has never been the greatest, but he makes up for that with all his other dynamic qualities."

Moon's biggest mistake might have been this haircut in 1994, though. Maybe he had to leave before the barber could finish shaving the top.

5. Paul Sampson
Former England wing Paul Sampson has gone through a number of styles in his career, as if 10.48 seconds for the 100 metres wasn't enough to get him noticed!

Like most rugby players, at one stage he had a shock of blonde hair and, of course, the close-cropped look.

But the one we liked the best was his attempt at a red Freddie Ljungberg go-faster style, while the much-travelled back was at London Wasps. Sampson sported it when Wasps travelled to Bath in 2002, and it seemed to do the trick as he scored a try in the 24-22 victory.

4. The Hair Bear Bunch
Christened "The Hair Bear Bunch" by their legion of fans, Adam and Duncan Jones, who are not related, have become a hairy anchor to the Ospreys and Wales scrums.

Duncan, the older and blonder of the two, was first capped for the Principality in November 2001, before Adam joined him in the Wales front row two years later.

They first played together against Scotland in August 2003 and, as the scrum packed down, it was a sight to behold as the curly-haired pair sandwiched Robin McBryde. The South Wales Evening Post said the duo gave "the impression that their pre-match preparations consist of putting fingers in the dressing-room power point."

3. Shane Byrne
There have been many famous mullets in sport- Chris Waddle and Kevin Keegan spring to mind- but there has to be only one that has held back a player's international career. Hooker Shane Byrne was first picked for an Ireland squad in 1994, but wasn't capped until 2001, and it seems his mullet won him few fans in the selector's camp.

Byrne explains: "This selector said, 'You look like an eejit. Get a hair cut or you'll never play for your country.' It annoyed me that someone would hold something that stupid against me. I decided I wasn't going to tow the line. I didn't realise how much was at stake- nearly ten years in the wilderness."

Byrne now has more than 40 caps and three for the Lions.

2. Andrea Lo Cicero
Andrea Lo Cicero's chequered haircut was the penance he had to pay after his first call-up for Italy in 1999. At 23, he was uncapped when he made it into the squad for the World Cup. As the youngster of the group, he was picked on by skipper Massimo Giovanelli and prop Franco Properzi-Curti. They were responsible for this dazzling hairdo and forced him to serve them coffee in bed every morning during the RWC camp.

"I didn't particularly like what they did to my hair," says Lo Cicero, "I left the chequers on for a couple of days, the just shaved the whole lot off." It must have brought him luck as he won his 60th cap last month against Canada.

AND RUGBY'S BEST HAIRCUT GOES TO...

1. John Taylor
Basil Brush, as John Taylor became known, was part of the Wales dynasty that dominated rugby in the 1970s. Journalist Patrick Collins described the ex-Wales and London Welsh flanker as having "hair like an exploding mattress."

Taylor won Grand Slams and Triple Crowns, but his most memorable moment came against the Scots in the 1971 Five Nations. With minutes to go on the clock, it was down to Taylor to slot a conversion from the corner to hand Wales a 19-18 win. Basil stepped up and the ball duly sailed through the posts.

In 1974 he refused to go on a Lions tour to South Africa, showing his disgust of the apartheid system.

Since leaving his playing days behind, Taylor has been a television pundit and commentator-and, luckily for viewers, he has swapped the mop look for a classic short back and sides style.