The 12 and 13 jerseys in rugby require a partnership that offers everything a team needs for both attack and defence.
Centres need power, pace, ball-carrying, creativity and ball skills to provide wherever their team needs in any given situation.
5. Will Greenwood and Mike Tindall
Greenwood and Tindall didn’t have a long partnership, but it brought England to the next level when the time was right. Tindall had been around the England squad since 2001/02, but didn’t gain a true starting role until midway through the 2003 Six Nations, in which England won the Grand Slam. They went on to win the 2003 World Cup together and Greenwood retired soon after. The most unique thing about the partnership was that Greenwood insisted on wearing the 13 jersey despite playing inside centre due to superstitions he had.
4. Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies
Roberts and Davies were a formidable partnership who started 45 tests together for Wales. They had incredible chemistry, which allowed them to get the best out of a Welsh attack that won the 2012 Grand Slam. Both players had a peak before or after the partnership, which, if it had fallen during their partnership, they would feature higher up this list. Jamie Roberts was the player of the series for the 2009 Lions in South Africa, while Davies was crucial in the 2017 Lions tour and captained Wales to the 2019 Grand Slam. It was Roberts being away at the Lions in 2009 that afforded Davies his first call-up to the national side. Roberts formed a great Lions partnership with Brian O’Driscoll, but famously, for the third test in 2013, Warren Gatland chose Davies to partner Roberts in the 13 jersey, which allowed them to win the series in Australia.
3. Tim Horan and Jason Little
Horan and Little fit into a small group of players who have won two World Cups in 1991 and 1999. Their partnership was much more evident for the 1991 World Cup. Little was in the 1999 squad but didn’t feature in the final. Tim Horan was potentially one of the best 12s in rugby history and was basically a second fly-half outside Michael Lynagh. Little was one of the best carriers at the time and allowed the magic of the Australian backline to happen while he held defenders.
2. Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll
Brian O’Driscoll has gone down as one of the best players in rugby history, but sometimes his partner is forgotten. The pair had such a long history that they were on opposite sides in the Leinster Schools Cup semi-finals in 1997. The pair brought a renaissance to Irish rugby, becoming a huge part of the 2009 Grand Slam, their first since the 1940s. They were also the starting centre partnership for Leinster in three Champions Cup-winning teams in the space of four years between 2009 and 2012.
1- Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith
Nonu and Smith started 62 tests together and started both finals as New Zealand won the 2011 and 2015 World Cups. Nonu had the power of a battering ram as a 12 while also having the skills of a distributor. Smith offered the pace and skill of an outside back while still providing a level of strength and defensive ability. The quality of a partnership can sometimes be seen by the strength of the players who couldn’t make it in. Sonny-Bill Williams was the understudy for both World Cup wins. In 2015, they made a wing pairing of Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder look like world beaters by giving them space and good quality ball. Milner-Skudder won the World Breakthrough Player of the Year award and, within two years, had only made a handful of other appearances for the All Blacks.
