Top 20 wasted rugby talents countdown: No 15-11

In our new Top 20 feature, Brendan Gallagher ranks the players who, for one reason or another, didn’t quite hit their peak.

Before we get things underway with Part Two, read who preceded this list.

Here, our countdown to No.1 continues with 15 to 11.

15 Ray Chico Hopkins – Maesteg, Llanelli and Wales

Fancy being a Welsh scrum-half and just a few months older than Gareth Edwards. That was Ray Chico Hopkins’ lot in life which was a great shame because he was a cracking player. Just once he played for Wales, in 1970 when he came on as a replacement against England and won the match for them with a try. Then in 1971 he was an early replacement in the first Lions Test against the All Blacks and enjoyed another stormer. He also helped Llanelli beat the All Blacks in 1972 before going North.

14 Christian Wade – Wasps, England

Christian Wade would feature prominently in a list of the top tries in the Premiership. He was a twinkle- toed genius out on the wing and, with the likes of Cipriani, Jimmy Gopperth and Elliot Daly working him away he could be unstoppable. England told him his defence was no good so he worked hard and I don’t recall a dropped high ball or missed tackle in his last two seasons. But still they wouldn’t pick him so he packed it in and went to the USA. A total of 82 tries in 130 Prem games and still only 28. What a tragic waste.

13 Eric Liddell – Scotland

The Scotsman’s athletic genius certainly wasn’t wasted – he famously won the Olympic 400m title in 1924 as depicted in Chariots of Fire – but it was as a rugby player he first came to prominence, scoring four tries in seven Scotland appearances between 1922-23. Liddell was incredibly quick and strong and it’s interesting to speculate what he might have achieved as the speed merchant in Scotland’s all-singing, all- dancing back division of 1925 which marched to a glorious Grand Slam. It could have been spectacular… but by then he had moved to China to work as a missionary.

James was thwarted as a fine fly-half by the mercurial presence of Cliff Morgan, winning just two caps, but that we can understand. What is difficult to fathom is why Wales never turned to him as a coach after his phenomenally successful spell in charge with Llanelli and, of course, the 1971 Lions. Was it because he was gay or did his strongly held Welsh Nationalist views and political aspirations scare the more conservative members of the WRU? Wales continued to snub him despite James drawing up a detailed coaching plan for the future when he applied for the job that still reads well today.

The Russian Prince scored two of the finest individual tries in England’s history on his debut against New Zealand and they came just a few weeks after making a memorable match-saving tackle for Oxford in the Varsity match. Yet the ultimate speed merchant made just three more England appearances, all in 1936, before dramatically falling out of favour. A hamstring tear bothered him, a Lions tour to Argentina in 1936 seemed to sap his powers, there were rumours of a distracting romance, the critics picked holes in his lack of rugby nous rather than trumpet his incredible athleticism. But the legend lives on.

BRENDAN GALLAGHER