186 articles
Jesse Kriel
Jesse Kriel, born 1994 in Cape Town, is a South African rugby centre for the Yokohama Canon Eagles and Springboks; a 2019 and 2023 World Cup winner, 2015 Test debutant, and 67th Springbok captain (2025).
Jim Fitzpatrick
Jim Fitzpatrick (1892–1973) was an American rugby union player who won Olympic gold with the United States at the 1920 Antwerp Games and later became a lawyer.
Jiuta Wainiqolo
Jiuta Naqoli Wainiqolo (born 1999) is a Fijian rugby union wing who won gold in men's rugby sevens at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as Fiji's top try scorer with five tries, then played for Toulon and Lyon OU in France's Top 14.
Joe Marler
Joe Marler (born 1990) is an English retired rugby union loosehead prop who spent his whole career at Harlequins, won 95 England caps, three Six Nations titles, and played in the 2019 World Cup final.
Joe Rokocoko
Joe Rokocoko (Josevata Taliga Rokocoko), Fijian-born New Zealand rugby winger born 1983 in Nadi; 46 tries in 68 All Blacks Tests 2003-2010, world-record 17 tries in 2003, Blues, Bayonne, Racing 92, now Racing 92 attack coach.
Joe Schmidt (rugby union)
Joe Schmidt (Josef Schmidt, born 1965, Kawakawa, New Zealand) is a rugby union coach, not a player: Leinster and Ireland head coach, All Blacks attack coach, World Rugby director, and Wallabies coach from 2024.
John O'Neil
John Thomas O'Neil (1898-1950), American rugby union forward from a Texas oil family, Santa Clara Broncos; won Olympic gold with the USA at Antwerp 1920 and Paris 1924, distinct from the 1946 MLB shortstop and the Scottish footballer of the same name.
Johnny Sexton
Johnny Sexton (Jonathan Sexton), Irish rugby union fly-half for Leinster and Racing 92, Ireland captain, 118 caps and 1,108 points, four Six Nations, two Grand Slams, 2018 World Rugby Player of the Year, retired after the 2023 World Cup, now an Ireland assistant coach.
Jonah Lomu
Jonah Lomu (Jonah Tali Lomu, 1975–2015), New Zealand All Blacks wing and rugby's first global superstar; 37 tries in 63 tests, four tries v England at RWC 1995, nephrotic syndrome, 2004 kidney transplant, died aged 40.
Jonny Wilkinson
Jonny Wilkinson (born 1979), English rugby union fly-half whose right-footed extra-time drop goal won England the 2003 World Cup final 20-17; 91 England caps, 1,246 international points, Newcastle and Toulon career.
Joost van der Westhuizen
Joost van der Westhuizen (1971–2017), South African Springbok scrum-half: 89 caps 1993–2003, 38 tries, 1995 Rugby World Cup winner famed for tackling Jonah Lomu, 1999 captain, later motor neurone disease campaigner through the J9 Foundation.
Jordie Barrett
Jordie Barrett (Jordie Matthew Barrett), born 1997 in New Plymouth, is a New Zealand All Blacks rugby union back, All Black No. 1159, brother of Beauden and Scott, a versatile fullback-centre and goal kicker with 79 Tests and 306 points.
Jorja Miller
Jorja Miller (born 2004, Timaru) is a New Zealand rugby player who plays sevens and fifteens for the Black Ferns and won Olympic gold at Paris 2024.
Joseph Olivier
Joseph Olivier (Joseph Adolphe Théophile Olivier, 1874-1901), French rugby union forward and captain who won gold with France at the 1900 Paris Olympics; Stade Français player, French champion 1894 and 1895.
Josh van der Flier
Josh van der Flier, Irish openside flanker for Leinster and Ireland, born 1993 in Dublin of Dutch descent; 2022 World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year, 2022 EPCR Player of the Year, 2025 British & Irish Lions tourist.
Josua Tuisova
Josua Tuisova Ratulevu, nicknamed The Bus or Human Bulldozer, is a Fijian rugby wing and centre, Olympic sevens gold medalist at Rio 2016, Fiji XV international since 2017, and Racing 92 player after Toulon and Lyon.
Julian Savea
Julian Savea, born 1990 in Wellington, is a Samoan-New Zealand rugby winger, 'the bus', with 46 tries in 54 All Blacks tests, top scorer at RWC 2015, later Hurricanes record try-scorer, Toulon, and Moana Pasifika.
Kalione Nasoko
Kalione Nasoko, born 1990 in Waya Levu, Fiji, is a rugby sevens player who captained Fiji in the World Rugby Sevens Series, won gold at Tokyo 2020, and later joined the Fijian Drua.
Kelly Brazier
Kelly Brazier, born 1989 in Dunedin, is a retired New Zealand rugby player, Black Fern #153 with 44 Tests; Rugby World Cup winner 2010 and 2017, Olympic sevens gold at Tokyo 2020 and silver at Rio 2016, now a Chiefs Manawa assistant coach.
Kenny Logan
Kenny Logan (Kenneth Logan, born 1972) is a retired Scottish rugby union winger, Scotland's most capped wing with 70 caps and 13 tries, a 1999 Five Nations winner, Wasps and Glasgow player, and prostate cancer awareness advocate.
Kevin Barrett (rugby union, born 1966)
Kevin Edward "Smiley" Barrett (born 1966), New Zealand rugby union lock/flanker; 167 games for Taranaki 1986-1999, 14 for the Hurricanes; father of All Blacks Beauden, Scott, and Jordie Barrett.
Kieran Read
Kieran Read (born 1985, Papakura) is a retired New Zealand rugby number 8; 127 All Blacks tests 2008-2019, captain 51-52 times, two World Cups (2011, 2015), 2013 World Rugby Player of the Year, Crusaders and Toyota Verblitz.
Kyle Preston
Kyle Robert Preston (born 1999) is a New Zealand rugby union halfback, All Black No. 1231, Crusaders and Wellington Lions player, NPC winner 2024, former roofer who debuted for the All Blacks in 2025.
Lawrence Dallaglio
Lawrence Dallaglio (Lawrence Bruno Nero Dallaglio), born 1972, English rugby union number 8 and back row; 85 England caps, 2003 World Cup and Grand Slam winner, lifelong Wasps player, 2016 World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee.
Leigh Halfpenny
Leigh Halfpenny, born Stephen Leigh Halfpenny in 1988, is a Welsh former rugby union full-back who won 101 Wales caps, scored 801 international points, and was 2013 Lions player of the series.
Lewis Moody
Lewis Moody (born 1978), nicknamed Mad Dog, English rugby union flanker, 71 England caps, 2003 World Cup winner, Leicester Tigers and Bath, Lions 2005; diagnosed with MND in 2025 and fundraising for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.
List of South Africa national rugby union players
Springboks, South Africa national rugby union team players; over 950 capped since 1891; most caps Eben Etzebeth (146), top RWC try scorer Bryan Habana (15), four World Cup titles.
List of Ulster Rugby players of the professional era
List of Ulster Rugby players of the professional era: Ulster players since rugby union turned professional in 1995. Covers the 1999 Heineken Cup winners, Celtic Cup 2003, Celtic League 2006, and the current 2025/26 squad.
Lou Hunter
Lou Hunter (Joseph Garvin Hunter, 1899-1984), American rugby union player from Mountain View, California, Santa Clara University; won 1920 Olympic gold, scoring the only try in the 8-0 final win over France at Antwerp.
Louis Rees-Zammit
Louis Rees-Zammit, nicknamed Rees-Lightning, is a Welsh rugby union wing and full-back for Bristol Bears and Wales; a 2021 Lions tourist and 14-try Wales scorer who left for an 18-month, appearance-free NFL spell with the Chiefs and Jaguars before returning in 2025.