Cully aside, this video is almost making me shed a tear. So many greats in these clips ...... Umaga, Marshal, Brooke, Lomu, Wilson, Bunce, Little, Mehrtens .... even Michael Jones. A golden era in NZ Rugby.
@@vegasmaori6621 "Marshal over-rated"??? 81 Tests for the All Blacks as first pick for the Half Back position. All Black Captain for 4 Tests. Scored 24 Test Tries which is the record for an All Black Half Back .... ..... but, he's "over-rated"?
That really was a golden era, so many legends to name playing together, looking back we were so spoiled. Marshall gets flack but to me better with him than without, he was a big halfback so he always had a size advantage on his man.
Christian Cullen is probably one of the greatest full backs of all time. Apart from his speed, he had tremendous timing, and he was notoriously difficult to tackle, because of his running action, he had great strength in his hips, so incredibly difficult to put down. He also formed a phenomenal partnership with Tana Umaga, they just fed off each other. He's one of those players that I dearly miss watching. Fyi happy birthday bro🥳
I saw him play his debut in Napier when the All Blacks played Samoa. He was wonderful to watch and gave us all a good heart attack each time he scored in that game 4 tries. The best fullback Ive seen.
IMO Cullen is the greatest fullback of all time. I was luckily enough to have watched him at the time and can honestly say his defense was just as good as his attack. These videos unfortunately does not show his defensive abilities. Christian Cullen you are the 🐐!
0:16 It’s sort of pronounced “Pie-kah-kah-ree-kee” 👍🏾👍🏾. Was actually gonna request you react to Christian Cullen lol as to this day imo, he’s still the All Black’s Greatest Fullback ever, one of the Best Ever Fullbacks to play the game AND even though he’s been retired since mid 2000s, he’s STILL my All Time Fave player 💪🏾. He’s one of the very few players I’ve seen run down a Fijian who was sure to score a try in 96 Hong Kong 7s where he helped NZ to win against them in the final, was also Player of Tournament too, think you might be able to find that game somewhere on RUclips. 4:46 💯, it’s like he’s gliding across the field when he runs plus his acceleration from a standing start is amazing. Also as you can tell, he scores a lot of long range length of the field tries :). Other thing was he was known to be Pound for Pound the Strongest All Black in whatever squad he was in, could bench press as much or more as some forwards he played with. Great reaction as always Sean 👍🏾👍🏾. 2:30 Happy Birthday for Tomorrow My Bro - Love & Blessings 🙏🏾💜.
After seeing him play in napier in his debut for the All Blacks against Samoa in Napier I agree with you. Wonderful player to watch in person with hard to comprehend body angle changes in a split second, jinking pace and master accelerating speed. Simply the best in my books.
Theres something about these reactions that are nastalgic for me. Your reactions are how we all reacted seeing it live in the 90s and 2000s. This puts a smile on my face, thanks man.
He could swerve and change direction without losing speed, was super direct and strong as an ox.. Fantastic to watch, bad selection policies in the NZRFU led to him being left behind in the 2003 World Cup when he was still the best Fullback in the world. Crazy decision..
The worst non-selection in World Cup Rugby history. He was just coming back into form after a horrible knee injury too. Will never forgive the selectors for that one.
At 10:36 you can hear "well taken at the back by Barrett" Fun fact: this is Kevin Barrett, the dad of current All Blacks Beauden, Jordie and Scott Barrett
They currently are doing a greatest 15 of all time from any nation, and as I write this, Cully is at the top as the no1 fullback. Now I'm from Canterbury ( in nz ) and even I regard Cully as the best fullback not only in NZ, but the world, at that time, he was my fav player, I loved watching him play ( except when he played against us), but even then you had to marvel at his skill. And you're right, his running style is phenomenal, the way he just glides over the grass, was a sight to see. Unfortunately he got made the scapegoat when the all blacks went through a tough stage, and his international career was prematurely ended. A damn travesty. He had a good couple of years at least left in him, but was cut short by bullshit.
I've only seen two guys ever that looked like they were gliding while running , Cullen and West Indian fast bowl legend cricketer Michael Holding. Thats how good Cullen was, he ran like 'Whispering Death' himself.
Man Cullen was a pure pleasure to watch,he could cut through a backline like a knife,and he could bench press 260KG,strongest in the team at the time apparently.
@@Andy_M986 Well that's impressive, given that the world record for the bench press in the powerlifting 90kg class, held by Andrey SapozHonkov, is 260kg. He only broke that last year, the previous record of 256 kg having stood for 32 YEARS! They'd be gutted to find out a small rugby back who weighed about 85 kilos bashed that out....
All this and he didnt miss many tackles or drop many kicks, also he had the heaviest benchpress in the ABs, super twich fibres apparently. I was the breakfast chef at hotel the nz rugby teams stayed at in Wellington at this time, I cooked their food mourning of test, was cool to get to know these legends a bit, Cullen was real shy
Cully didnt run. He glided. Although Lomu was the star of the day when Cullen played, Cullen at fullback and Jeff Wilson on the wing was one of the best 1-2 punches in world rugby ever
You obv never saw JPR Williams, the Welsh doctor and fullback, back in the pre professional game. As tough as nails, hit like a brick shit house and could run like the Tax Dept was after him.
Watching him run, is like watching a dancer, so graceful and effortless. Perfect angles, and hitting the ball on pace, wooow. What a Special Gift this Legend is to the ABs, and AB supporters. Love watching HIM on full flight.👍👍👍.Just awesome.
@@MrSquidlips927 Sounds like that's what you eat. His father Chris Snr Cullen was Samoan with a tiny bit of German roots, and has small Maori blood too. Tracey 'eat kaks' johnson.
Christian Cullen was such an amazing rugby player and in my opinion the greatest fullback of all time. I think if had a longer career as an All Black he would've for sure solidified his position as one of the GOATS.
Man we were so lucky for amazing players back then, Lomu, Cullen, Umanga, Wilson, Zinny, cronfield, Mertens, michael Jones. seemed like Cullen would always rotate his shoulders and could slip out of tackles, he was an amazing player !!!!
Thanks Sean, first time looking at your channel and listening to your commentary, awesome brother. We live 10 mins away from Christian and his family. He is a top guy and a very humble man - and one of our legends! Cheers brother.
my favourite rugby player of all time!!! he defined how to play rugby for me when i learned how to play at 14 years old! he's also the reason i began supporting wellington lions, hurricanes and the all blacks until recently. GOAT
Wingers like Cullen often have the ability to run the 100 m in 10 seconds flat. Some could well have been sucessfull Olympic sprinters. Cullen is a good eg
you have now watched 2 out of the 3 All Black back three of the time (cullen & lomu), suggest a look at the 3rd member Jeff Wilson who was probably the most skilled of the 3 although tended to be overlooked.
Wilson was a bit of a freak. He represented NZ in International Rugby and Cricket and was reputed to be good enough to represent us also in Basketball, but chose the All Blacks instead. A supreme athlete.
I lived in paekok, my step mum was related to the Cherrys, loved growing up there 4 a few years mid 80s❤sweet reaction bro Christian is the MAN🤘our whole country watches these games religiously ✌
Paekakariki is a suburb about 20 minutes drive north of Wellington. The team in the yellow jerseys that he playing in is called Wellington Hurricanes which was his home team in the super Rugby
first time I saw Cullen live was at the NSW v Hurricanes game in Sydney when he ran coast 2 coast. As a Canes fan it wasn't a great result but I was so glad to be there because it was try that stamped his arrival as one of the greatest fullbacks to play the game.
I was at that game too. I believe he was 18 years old. We had heard talk of this kid so we went to see. That moment was all we needed to see. The Canes got thrashed but we left excited. The ABs had a No.15 on the way.
I love how you have done thus I'm from nz Christian came to my school often he was my idol absolutely loved him fun fact he could lift the second biggest bench press in the team as one of the smallest platers
With the exception of Beauden Barrett (probably won't see him play Fullback for a while) ..... Cully is possibly the WORLD'S BEST FULLBACK EVER. High rate of Tries scored per game, could score from anywhere, sliced through defensive lines, solid tackler and great defender. And such a humble guy. Unfortunately, this video doesn't show how he could chase run-away ball carriers and bring them down. Also, it was local knowledge that Cully was deceptively MASSIVELY strong. In the Wellington Hurricanes gym, he was one of the strongest for bench-pressing out of the whole squad .... stronger than some of the Forwards. He could lift nearly TWICE his own body weight as a bench press (145kgs) ..... a BACKROWER. Only 3 others could out do him ..... Bull Allen, "Storming" Norm Hewitt and big Billy Cavubati (3 Front Row MONSTERS). Such a shame he got shafted by John Mitchell and co. Absolute Legend.
The videos on Real Rugby are actually pretty fucking awesome. There is some serious rugby nostalgia on that youtube channel. You should do yourself a favour and just scroll through everything they have uploaded. I love that they keep the commentary in and don't replace it with ghastly music.
Cullen is the all time great fullback. Yes he had greats inside him but his vision and awareness is 2nd to none. His speed and strength makes him the best of all time….facts
Bro I enjoyed that reaction. Cullen was my favourite rugby player of all time. I was a fullback back in the day and I use to get inspired by watching his clips then trying to do them. My home town is an hour and forty mins away from Paekakariki Wellington region north island New Zealand.
He was almost as good defensively as offensively. Wicked strong, crazy chaser, and very effective tackler. If you want other great ball-runners from the 90's and early 2000's from this region of the world, try Fiji's Rupeni Caucaunibuca, or Brett Mullins, who played rugby league for the Canberra Raiders and the Kangaroos. They're still three of the absolute best.
13:32 You're talking about Justin Marshall, the n°1 All Blacks scrum-half from 1995 to 2005. He's now a very famous (or infamous) NZ commentator who comments most test matches and important encounters alongside Grant Nisbett.
Only 3 players in the hurricanes team could bench press more than him, was freakishly strong. 145kg (320 pounds) bench which was almost twice his weight.
Pie kaka reeky exprss was a commuter train that went wizzed through Paekakariki to Welington ? As others have said too, Christian Cullen did not shy away from tackling but was so good at reading the play and hitting the ball at speed. Simply the best all time.
You should check out some of the "Will Jordan" clips. He reminds me of Cullen, different sort of running but same sort of lines and just hits the ball with speed and is gone. Future great for sure, his first proper season in the Black jersey this year and he was a standout, scored some stupid amount of tries in 1 season, won some awards etc.
I love Cullen, one of my favorite rugby players. But I would say the best rugby player at running in angles is the flying Fijian Rupeni Caucaunibuca. Similar running style as Christian Cullen.
Finally, a GOAT Top 5 All Blacks in the last 30 years. According to me. lol 1. Richie McCaw 2. Dan Carter 3. Christian Cullen 4. Jonah Lomu 5. Beauden Barrett
I forgot to leave the HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ON THIS ONE but i was having to much fun, with this video and wishing we was out da crib have a beersie , maybe you showwing me some NFL running backs (one of my fave was BArry SAnders still to this day, when talking American game.)
I was watching a documentary on Barry Sanders, the great Detroit Lions running back tonight. I'd never seen Sanders previously, as American Football is not a big game in New Zealand. But watching Sanders, I thought to myself this guy is incredible. It occured to me that Barry Sanders and Christian Cullen are pretty similar in running style, speed and what they do on the field. They also weren't big men by the standards of their respective sports.
My fav all time player. And its PIE-KAAKAA-REE-KEE (roll that R) lol Nicknamed after the train/locomotive where he grew up if im not mistaken. The try @12:30 is the best
One of the best things about Rugby is the jersey numbers and their history. You never retire a jersey number, you inherit it and you carry the tradition. Forward or back or reserve you play your position to the best of your ability within the team, the nationality, the history and the Rugby.
Cully aside, this video is almost making me shed a tear. So many greats in these clips ...... Umaga, Marshal, Brooke, Lomu, Wilson, Bunce, Little, Mehrtens .... even Michael Jones. A golden era in NZ Rugby.
Yes only destroyed by Mitchell’s poor judgment to leave out the greatest full back of all time
Marshel was way overrated
@@vegasmaori6621 "Marshal over-rated"???
81 Tests for the All Blacks as first pick for the Half Back position. All Black Captain for 4 Tests. Scored 24 Test Tries which is the record for an All Black Half Back ....
..... but, he's "over-rated"?
That really was a golden era, so many legends to name playing together, looking back we were so spoiled. Marshall gets flack but to me better with him than without, he was a big halfback so he always had a size advantage on his man.
Thomas Soane Marshall was a great player yes.. but his ego was shit
The most scintillating rugby player I have ever seen. I don't think I'll see anyone better in my life.
He was the best ever
Christian Cullen is probably one of the greatest full backs of all time. Apart from his speed, he had tremendous timing, and he was notoriously difficult to tackle, because of his running action, he had great strength in his hips, so incredibly difficult to put down. He also formed a phenomenal partnership with Tana Umaga, they just fed off each other. He's one of those players that I dearly miss watching. Fyi happy birthday bro🥳
Probably??? He IS the greatest fullback that ever played the game hands down!!
The greatest from an Aussie who saw him demolish us time after yome
Nothing probable about it! He IS the 🐐
I saw him play his debut in Napier when the All Blacks played Samoa. He was wonderful to watch and gave us all a good heart attack each time he scored in that game 4 tries. The best fullback Ive seen.
And unlike Lomu, fearless in tackling!
IMO Cullen is the greatest fullback of all time. I was luckily enough to have watched him at the time and can honestly say his defense was just as good as his attack. These videos unfortunately does not show his defensive abilities. Christian Cullen you are the 🐐!
Agreed. Fearless in tackling!
Well said 👍🤗
We named our son after one of the greatest and our favorite rugby players. The legend Christian Cullen
0:16 It’s sort of pronounced “Pie-kah-kah-ree-kee” 👍🏾👍🏾.
Was actually gonna request you react to Christian Cullen lol as to this day imo, he’s still the All Black’s Greatest Fullback ever, one of the Best Ever Fullbacks to play the game AND even though he’s been retired since mid 2000s, he’s STILL my All Time Fave player 💪🏾. He’s one of the very few players I’ve seen run down a Fijian who was sure to score a try in 96 Hong Kong 7s where he helped NZ to win against them in the final, was also Player of Tournament too, think you might be able to find that game somewhere on RUclips.
4:46 💯, it’s like he’s gliding across the field when he runs plus his acceleration from a standing start is amazing. Also as you can tell, he scores a lot of long range length of the field tries :). Other thing was he was known to be Pound for Pound the Strongest All Black in whatever squad he was in, could bench press as much or more as some forwards he played with.
Great reaction as always Sean 👍🏾👍🏾.
2:30 Happy Birthday for Tomorrow My Bro - Love & Blessings 🙏🏾💜.
After seeing him play in napier in his debut for the All Blacks against Samoa in Napier I agree with you. Wonderful player to watch in person with hard to comprehend body angle changes in a split second, jinking pace and master accelerating speed. Simply the best in my books.
Theres something about these reactions that are nastalgic for me. Your reactions are how we all reacted seeing it live in the 90s and 2000s. This puts a smile on my face, thanks man.
He could swerve and change direction without losing speed, was super direct and strong as an ox.. Fantastic to watch, bad selection policies in the NZRFU led to him being left behind in the 2003 World Cup when he was still the best Fullback in the world. Crazy decision..
The worst non-selection in World Cup Rugby history. He was just coming back into form after a horrible knee injury too. Will never forgive the selectors for that one.
@@watersbros agreed
Jon mitchell👎🤮
Yeah Dean's & Mitchell
At 10:36 you can hear "well taken at the back by Barrett"
Fun fact: this is Kevin Barrett, the dad of current All Blacks Beauden, Jordie and Scott Barrett
They currently are doing a greatest 15 of all time from any nation, and as I write this, Cully is at the top as the no1 fullback. Now I'm from Canterbury ( in nz ) and even I regard Cully as the best fullback not only in NZ, but the world, at that time, he was my fav player, I loved watching him play ( except when he played against us), but even then you had to marvel at his skill. And you're right, his running style is phenomenal, the way he just glides over the grass, was a sight to see.
Unfortunately he got made the scapegoat when the all blacks went through a tough stage, and his international career was prematurely ended. A damn travesty. He had a good couple of years at least left in him, but was cut short by bullshit.
Mitchell was a true dog for treating Cully the way he did
Christian Cullen was literally "untouchable". We have never had anyone like him since. From NZ.
One of my idols growing up.🥝🇳🇿
I've only seen two guys ever that looked like they were gliding while running , Cullen and West Indian fast bowl legend cricketer Michael Holding. Thats how good Cullen was, he ran like 'Whispering Death' himself.
Look up Joe rocokoko and Doug Howlett
Viv Stokes They were both great player but still didn’t have Cullys angles and swerve
@@dreday77764 ruclips.net/video/G7et22opPp0/видео.html
@@dreday77764 ruclips.net/video/T4Fso5dN0eg/видео.html
Viv Stokes They’re good but Cullen still on another level. Rupeni Caucaunibuca Was better than those 2 you mentioned
best All Black fullback ever, could turn a game around singlehandedly
When he reached 21 years he had played 21 times for NZ and scored 21 try’s. Legend.
Thats why he is called the express. Cullen the man. Was a blessing to watch him live. AWESOME and thanks for the reaction. Was a good one.
Man Cullen was a pure pleasure to watch,he could cut through a backline like a knife,and he could bench press 260KG,strongest in the team at the time apparently.
I really don't think he could bench 260kg....
@@itsinthetreesitscoming7431 He was filmed doing it during an All Blacks training video.
@@itsinthetreesitscoming7431 Filo Tita Tia was spotting him.
@@Andy_M986 Well that's impressive, given that the world record for the bench press in the powerlifting 90kg class, held by Andrey SapozHonkov, is 260kg. He only broke that last year, the previous record of 256 kg having stood for 32 YEARS!
They'd be gutted to find out a small rugby back who weighed about 85 kilos bashed that out....
All this and he didnt miss many tackles or drop many kicks, also he had the heaviest benchpress in the ABs, super twich fibres apparently. I was the breakfast chef at hotel the nz rugby teams stayed at in Wellington at this time, I cooked their food mourning of test, was cool to get to know these legends a bit, Cullen was real shy
Every 27 to 40 year old NZ favourite player.
All my bros love CC and Lomu was always 2nd.
Lomu was good, but not of the same standard as Cullen or Wilson.
Cully didnt run. He glided.
Although Lomu was the star of the day when Cullen played, Cullen at fullback and Jeff Wilson on the wing was one of the best 1-2 punches in world rugby ever
Totally agree with you. A phenomenal duo.
I reckon he is the best full back Ive ever see. Excellent defender and an attacker. Amazing player.
It might be unanimous that he’s the greatest fullback ever
You obv never saw JPR Williams, the Welsh doctor and fullback, back in the pre professional game. As tough as nails, hit like a brick shit house and could run like the Tax Dept was after him.
CRAIG5835 No doubt JPR Williams was a great player but not on Cullen level
Respect man for your attempt at pronouncing Paekakariki 👍 Culley mate, is a legend! Thanks for posting 😎
Watching him run, is like watching a dancer, so graceful and effortless. Perfect angles, and hitting the ball on pace, wooow. What a Special Gift this Legend is to the ABs, and AB supporters. Love watching HIM on full flight.👍👍👍.Just awesome.
I met him a year ago, the guy just doesn't age. He pretty much looks the same 25 years later.
He is actually quite a handsome fella.
Fun fact, Christian Cullen has a Samoan heritage, and is proud of being Samoan as well as NZ-european.
That’s mad I had no idea 👍
Full of shit
@@MrSquidlips927 Sounds like that's what you eat. His father Chris Snr Cullen was Samoan with a tiny bit of German roots, and has small Maori blood too. Tracey 'eat kaks' johnson.
@@MrSquidlips927 shame 🤣
Lol best fullback ever... Only guy that can sharply change direction at full pace, floated
Christian Cullen was such an amazing rugby player and in my opinion the greatest fullback of all time. I think if had a longer career as an All Black he would've for sure solidified his position as one of the GOATS.
he got some bad ass tries in 7s when he first came on the scene. one of my favorite players of all time
yeah and he end his rugby journey when he meet SATALA from FIJI
Man we were so lucky for amazing players back then, Lomu, Cullen, Umanga, Wilson, Zinny, cronfield, Mertens, michael Jones. seemed like Cullen would always rotate his shoulders and could slip out of tackles, he was an amazing player !!!!
He played with Bunce too. Bunce was as solid as a brick shit house, going forward, or defending.
Hes unique as hell. He pulled some.magic out his ass many many times. Love him
Cullen one of the greatest players in the best All Black teams in the modern era. Some of the best games against South Africa especially
Thanks Sean, first time looking at your channel and listening to your commentary, awesome brother. We live 10 mins away from Christian and his family. He is a top guy and a very humble man - and one of our legends! Cheers brother.
He was poetry to watch.
my favourite rugby player of all time!!! he defined how to play rugby for me when i learned how to play at 14 years old! he's also the reason i began supporting wellington lions, hurricanes and the all blacks until recently. GOAT
One of the joys of my life was meeting Christian Cullen in a hotel carpark in Dublin in 2004 when we went to all the All Blacks Grand-slam tour games
Glad you found this player. What an electricly gifted athelete!
Man, I have not seen these highlights before. Damn! This dude is electric
Cullen was magic to watch I often wonder how guys like him would do in the nfl
Thanks bro your reaction vids are gold. Everyone in nz knows how good Cullen use to stride and run and for you to pick up it, respect.
Wingers like Cullen often have the ability to run the 100 m in 10 seconds flat. Some could well have been sucessfull Olympic sprinters. Cullen is a good eg
Thank you so much it was so fun watching this.
Happy birthday bro! Hope the footy gods bless you with more highlights for you to react to! 🤘🏽💯
My favourite player of all time, happy bday sean my guy, your content is awesome and im guaranteed to laugh or smile whenever I watch so Thankyou bro!
he was a small man but freakishly powerfull.
Awesome reaction man as always!and happy birthday!!!!
One of Rugbys Greatest Attacking Full Backs !
Fearless in tackling too.
I think that if you ask Rugby fanatics, Cullen would be the name on their lips when comes to Full back. he was very exciting to watch.👍
Beautiful stuff brother.. Legend Christian Cullen ❤️ Happy birthday to you my brother and have a good festive season 🎂
you have now watched 2 out of the 3 All Black back three of the time (cullen & lomu), suggest a look at the 3rd member Jeff Wilson who was probably the most skilled of the 3 although tended to be overlooked.
Wilson was a bit of a freak. He represented NZ in International Rugby and Cricket and was reputed to be good enough to represent us also in Basketball, but chose the All Blacks instead. A supreme athlete.
Well done Sean for this tribute, it brought back a lot of memories, your the best my man?
the "paekakariki express" is the commuter express train on the Kapiti line that runs between Paekakariki and Wellington
I lived in paekok, my step mum was related to the Cherrys, loved growing up there 4 a few years mid 80s❤sweet reaction bro Christian is the MAN🤘our whole country watches these games religiously ✌
best open play runner i have ever seen.
Happy you did this, Cullen the best!!
Arguably, the greatest fullback of all time. My no:1 anyway.
Paekakariki is a suburb about 20 minutes drive north of Wellington. The team in the yellow jerseys that he playing in is called Wellington Hurricanes which was his home team in the super Rugby
NZ had what they would call in rugby the Bermuda triangle with the best 11 Jonah, 15 Cullen, and 14 Wilson, Literally a hack.
Love the videos mate keep up the good work
first time I saw Cullen live was at the NSW v Hurricanes game in Sydney when he ran coast 2 coast. As a Canes fan it wasn't a great result but I was so glad to be there because it was try that stamped his arrival as one of the greatest fullbacks to play the game.
The beginning story of a legend.
I was at that game too. I believe he was 18 years old. We had heard talk of this kid so we went to see. That moment was all we needed to see. The Canes got thrashed but we left excited. The ABs had a No.15 on the way.
@@petert4032 100 % I was at the game with my brother and all we were talking about was this kid needs to be injected into the ABs as soon as possible.
most people don't realise that Cullen was freakishly strong, he could bench press more weight than most forwards.
I love how you have done thus I'm from nz Christian came to my school often he was my idol absolutely loved him fun fact he could lift the second biggest bench press in the team as one of the smallest platers
Marshal is kinda like the quarterback, it is his role to get the ball out of rucks, mauls and scrums if he can get there in time.
Happy birthday 🎁🎊🎉
He is arguably the best attacking full back ever
With the exception of Beauden Barrett (probably won't see him play Fullback for a while) ..... Cully is possibly the WORLD'S BEST FULLBACK EVER. High rate of Tries scored per game, could score from anywhere, sliced through defensive lines, solid tackler and great defender. And such a humble guy. Unfortunately, this video doesn't show how he could chase run-away ball carriers and bring them down.
Also, it was local knowledge that Cully was deceptively MASSIVELY strong. In the Wellington Hurricanes gym, he was one of the strongest for bench-pressing out of the whole squad .... stronger than some of the Forwards. He could lift nearly TWICE his own body weight as a bench press (145kgs) ..... a BACKROWER. Only 3 others could out do him ..... Bull Allen, "Storming" Norm Hewitt and big Billy Cavubati (3 Front Row MONSTERS).
Such a shame he got shafted by John Mitchell and co.
Absolute Legend.
The videos on Real Rugby are actually pretty fucking awesome. There is some serious rugby nostalgia on that youtube channel. You should do yourself a favour and just scroll through everything they have uploaded. I love that they keep the commentary in and don't replace it with ghastly music.
That coast to coast is his trade mark... pure class...
The man , one of many all black greats , once and a life time player of greatness , best supporting player always there as finisher
Cullen is the all time great fullback. Yes he had greats inside him but his vision and awareness is 2nd to none. His speed and strength makes him the best of all time….facts
Best open field runner ... Awesome
He didn't run, he was gliding.
The greatest ever fullback to play the game.
far out we will never forget the Express nz rugby world rugby Christian is a top 50 rugby back of all tymes
Bro I enjoyed that reaction. Cullen was my favourite rugby player of all time. I was a fullback back in the day and I use to get inspired by watching his clips then trying to do them. My home town is an hour and forty mins away from Paekakariki Wellington region north island New Zealand.
He was almost as good defensively as offensively. Wicked strong, crazy chaser, and very effective tackler. If you want other great ball-runners from the 90's and early 2000's from this region of the world, try Fiji's Rupeni Caucaunibuca, or Brett Mullins, who played rugby league for the Canberra Raiders and the Kangaroos. They're still three of the absolute best.
Damn those old school Hurricanes jerseys and Keith Quinn's commentary is a trip haha, Cully's is one of the greats for sure.
13:32 You're talking about Justin Marshall, the n°1 All Blacks scrum-half from 1995 to 2005. He's now a very famous (or infamous) NZ commentator who comments most test matches and important encounters alongside Grant Nisbett.
Only 3 players in the hurricanes team could bench press more than him, was freakishly strong. 145kg (320 pounds) bench which was almost twice his weight.
Cullen was the man. The greatest fullback ever.
Pie kaka reeky exprss was a commuter train that went wizzed through Paekakariki to Welington ? As others have said too, Christian Cullen did not shy away from tackling but was so good at reading the play and hitting the ball at speed. Simply the best all time.
You should check out some of the "Will Jordan" clips. He reminds me of Cullen, different sort of running but same sort of lines and just hits the ball with speed and is gone. Future great for sure, his first proper season in the Black jersey this year and he was a standout, scored some stupid amount of tries in 1 season, won some awards etc.
I love Cullen, one of my favorite rugby players. But I would say the best rugby player at running in angles is the flying Fijian Rupeni Caucaunibuca. Similar running style as Christian Cullen.
Definitely agree with you
For sure,but faster as well.
Happy B-Day Sean!!!
Finally, a GOAT
Top 5 All Blacks in the last 30 years. According to me. lol
1. Richie McCaw
2. Dan Carter
3. Christian Cullen
4. Jonah Lomu
5. Beauden Barrett
Agree on 1 to 4 but Zinzan replaces Barrett
@@Laurikiwi it will be close once Barrett retires.
I forgot to leave the HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ON THIS ONE but i was having to much fun, with this video and wishing we was out da crib have a beersie , maybe you showwing me some NFL running backs (one of my fave was BArry SAnders still to this day, when talking American game.)
Phonetic.The Pie- Kaa-Kaa- Ree-ki. Express
Him and Rupene Caucaurambuca...😎
I was watching a documentary on Barry Sanders, the great Detroit Lions running back tonight. I'd never seen Sanders previously, as American Football is not a big game in New Zealand.
But watching Sanders, I thought to myself this guy is incredible. It occured to me that Barry Sanders and Christian Cullen are pretty similar in running style, speed and what they do on the field. They also weren't big men by the standards of their respective sports.
My fav all time player. And its PIE-KAAKAA-REE-KEE (roll that R) lol Nicknamed after the train/locomotive where he grew up if im not mistaken. The try @12:30 is the best
Yup pretty much where he was bought up you will see trains everywhere lol
Best full back ever.
Pure Speed, Balance, Footwork and IQ 🐐
One of his gifts was being able to change angles and step at full pace and not lose any speed
Happy birthday bro, best wishes for the future, stay safe and stay blessed 🙏🏾 much love from Australia
Nice birthday present to you!🥂 Happy Birthday🎉🎉🎉
One of the best things about Rugby is the jersey numbers and their history. You never retire a jersey number, you inherit it and you carry the tradition. Forward or back or reserve you play your position to the best of your ability within the team, the nationality, the history and the Rugby.
@ 10:36 you hear Barrett.. which is actually the father of Beauden, jordie and scott
Astounding.
This a sick video bro!
Greatest full back off all time no othee full back comes.close to what he could do
Yup one of the best to play the game
I played high school rugby with him at Kapiti College
With that speed and the angles he ran made him most dangerous & slippery player to stop. I lived a town away from him too great player
Yooo that's Justin Marshall and tana umaga all black legends
Great content as always. Cully 🐐 fullback