A select group of players made their mark in the 15 and 13 versions of rugby. Here are 10 greats who became stars in the association and the league.
The top 10 cross-code rugby players have achieved something few in the sporting world can match – mastering two very different games.
Although the basic premise of both rugby union and rugby league is the same – tackles, passing the ball backwards, kicking the ball between the posts, etc. – these two codes have evolved in very different directions, requiring their teams to develop different skill sets.
As a result, only an elite group of players managed to become stars in both the 15 and 13-a-side versions of rugby. The world of rugbyThe top 10 cross-code players managed to make it onto the honor roll of both sports.
Top 10 Rugby Players
1. Jason Robinson
(Manuel Blondeau/Photo & Co./Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
Jason Robinson widely regarded as the greatest cross-code player of all time. Spending nine years with Wigan, the flyer won it all. After rugby union turned professional he was briefly tempted to Bath Rugby but his arrival at Sale Sharks in 2000 saw him take on the world. Robinson was a key member of the England team that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup and toured twice with the British & Irish Lions.
2. Andy Farrell
(Clive Brunskill/ALLSPORT)
Andy Farrell he was just 16 when he made his Wigan debut in November 1991. Over the next 14 years, Farrell helped Wigan win six Super League titles, six Challenge Cups and the Club World Challenge in 1994. Named the Man of Steel on two separate occasions, he saw out his playing days with Saracens in rugby union and represented England at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. Since his retirement in 2009, Farrell has built a reputation as one of the world’s best coaches. After eight years as an England and Ireland assistant, the 51-year-old has coached Ireland since 2019 and led the team to the Six Nations titles in 2023 and 2024, including Grand Slam 2023. He was too head coach of the British and Irish Lions on their 2025 Australian tour.
3. Michael Cleary
(Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Perhaps the least heralded name on this list, Michael Cleary not only excelled in rugby, but also in athletics. A winger for Randwick in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Cleary represented the Wallabies in 1961 and impressed in the Tests against Fiji. After signing for the South Sydney Rabbitohs he retained his amateur status and competed for Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Perth, placing third in the 100 yards. Spending the next decade of his career with the Rabbitohs, Cleary proved himself for both the Kangaroos and New South Wales. He is one of only four Australian athletes to represent their country in three different sports at senior level.
4. Sonny Bill Williams
Sonny Bill Williams of New Zealand tackles Jonathan Davies of Wales during the Rugby World Cup 2019 bronze medal final match between New Zealand and Wales at Tokyo Stadium on November 1, 2019 in Chofu, Tokyo, Japan. (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
During his career, Sonny Bill Williams crossed the codes an incredible three times. Starting his career with the Canterbury Bulldogs aged just 18, the hard-hitting second-row has developed a formidable reputation. In 2008, he made his first move to rugby union when he signed for Toulon and made his debut for the All Blacks in 2010 and won the Rugby World Cup on home soil in 2011. After returning to league for two years, Williams signed for the Chiefs in Super Rugby, then helped the All Blacks to another World Cup in the process. In 2016, he turned to rugby sevens and played in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Four years later Williams returned to rugby league to sign with the now defunct Toronto Wolfpack and retired with the Sydney Roosters.
5. John Bentley
(David Rogers/Allsport)
John Bentley made his England rugby union debut aged 21. Later that year he signed for Leeds Rugby League and was a professional. His time in West Yorkshire was fruitful. He scored more than 150 tries for Leeds and Halifax before rugby union’s turn to professionalism lured him back. On the British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 1997, ‘Bentos’ is most remembered. His energetic personality was on display Living with lions (one of the best documentaries about british and irish lions) and played a key role in the stunning Test series win over the Springboks.
6. Jonathan Davies
(Allsport UK / Allsport)
There was furore when Wales’ Jonathan “Jiffy” Davies began his rugby league career. In 1989, Widnes signed him for a record fee of £230,000 amid talk that he would be the starting half of the British and Irish Lions season. The reason he decided to leave was in the best interest of his family. Davies quickly became a crowd favorite. First Division champion in 1989, later represented Great Britain and Wales. Davies returned to rugby union after his career ended, spending two years at Cardiff – and winning five more caps for the national team – before hanging up his boots.
7. Dai Young
(PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP via Getty Images)
When Dai Young left rugby union, he was already a British and Irish Lion. The Welsh tighthead prop was tempted by Leeds in 1990 for a fee of £150,000. He eventually left Yorkshire to play for Salford, making over 150 appearances for Greater Manchester and captaining Wales at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup. In 1996 the front row returned to Cardiff, saw out the last six years of his career and was selected for two more Lions tours. Young is one of two players, along with Alun Wyn Jonesto represent the Lions in three separate decades.
8. Drought forecast
(Mike Hewitt/Allsport)
Along with Jason Robinson, Va’aiga Tuigamala is one of the best cross-code players ever. While playing rugby union for Auckland, the wild back became an All Black, won 19 caps and played in the 1991 Rugby World Cup. In 1993 he switched codes to play rugby league for Wigan where he won numerous trophies and played internationally for Samoa. After rugby union turned professional in 1995, he returned to his first love, junior rugby. Winning the Premiership with London Wasps in 1997, Tuigamala was signed for a then world record fee of £1,000,000 by Newcastle Falcons and helped the north-east club win the Premiership in 1998 before ending his career at Kingston Park.
9. Brad Thorn
(Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Brad Thorn is perhaps best remembered as the hulking second-row forward who helped New Zealand to Rugby World Cup glory in 2011. But it was in rugby league that he made his name. In 14 State of Origin appearances for Queensland, Thorn won the NRL three times in two 13-a-side games. First making the switch to rugby union in 2000, Thorn made his All Blacks debut in 2003, earning just 60 caps for the country of his birth and ending his international career as a world champion.
10. Marika Koroibete
(Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
In her debut NRL season with the Wests Tigers in 2012, Marika Koroibete scored seven tries in six games. His raw pace and power have garnered him many fans. Two years later he moved to the Melbourne Storm and was regarded as one of the most exciting players in the competition. At the end of the 2015 season, the winger scored 16 tries in 23 games. Tempted to enter rugby union by the Wallabies coach at the time Michael Cheikaafter playing for the Storm in the 2016 NRL Grand Final, Koroibete toured Europe with Australia. After making his Wallabies debut nearly a year later against Argentina, his consistent performances in the gold and green saw him become the first wing to win the John Eales Medal in 2019 and win it again in 2022. From 2021, Korobiete played his club rugby in Japan with the Panasonic White Knights.
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