Like him or loathe him, England flyhalf Owen Farrell has become just the sixth player to score 1 000 points in Test rugby.
Farrell reached the milestone in England’s controversial extra-time victory over France in the final of the Autumn Nations Cup at Twickenham on Saturday.
Farrell has courted controversy himself in recent years, mainly over his tackle technique – or the lack thereof.
Regardless, Farrell joined five other legends of the game in reaching four-figures, and, as the only active player of the sextet, should move up the list in Tests to come.
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The player immediately ahead of Farrell will be something of a surprise to many – Italy’s Diego Dominguez.
The diminutive flyhalf scored 983 points for Italy and 27 for Argentina (1 010 total) before hanging up his boots in 2003.
In fourth place in the list is Ireland’s Ronan O’Gara on 1 083 points before he retired from the international arena in 2013.
ON THE PODIUM ARE …
On the ‘podium’ in third place is Wales’ Neil Jenkins who scored 1 049 points for his country and 41 for the British & Irish Lions, for a grand total of 1 090.
There’s a jump to the second-placed player, England’s Jonny Wilkinson on 1 246 points.
In his 97 Tests, Wilkinson amassed 1 179 points for England and 67 for the British & Irish Lions.
Standing head and shoulders above the rest, however, is All Blacks legend Dan Carter.
Carter, who retired after 112 Tests for New Zealand, scored a massive 1 598 points comprising 29 tries, 293 conversions, 281 penalties and 8 drop goals.
His average of 14.26 points per Test is also the highest among those in the ‘1 000 point’ club.
For the record, the next highest ‘active’ player is Ireland flyhalf Jonathan Sexton on 875 points.
The leading Springbok point-scorer of all time is former fullback Percy Montgomery in 11th place on 893 points.
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