World Rugby has announced that five players spread across sevens and 15s will be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame at the World Rugby Awards in Monaco on 24 November.
The contributions of Emilee Cherry (Australia), DJ Forbes (New Zealand), Donna Kennedy (Scotland), Chris Laidlaw (New Zealand) and Sergio Parisse (Italy) to the game will be celebrated at the gala event.
The World Rugby Hall of Fame recognises those who have made an outstanding contribution to the game of rugby throughout their careers, while also demonstrating rugby’s character-building values of integrity, passion, solidarity, discipline and respect.
In an Olympic year, two former stars of the sevens game and World Rugby Sevens Players of the Year will take their place in the Hall of Fame in former New Zealand captain DJ Forbes and Australia’s Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Emilee Cherry.
They are joined by two players to grace a Rugby World Cup on five occasions in Sergio Parisse, arguably Italy’s greatest ever player who played 142 tests for the Azzurri, and fellow-test centurion Donna Kennedy – Scotland’s most-capped player male or female with 115 tests. Chris Laidlaw, one of finest players to wear the All Blacks’ number nine jersey, is the final inductee of 2024.
The five inductees bring the total in the Hall of Fame to 171 since it began in 2006.
World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson said: “This Sunday, we will be welcoming five legends from four nationalities into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. These inductees, representing both sevens and 15s, have graced our sport with their remarkable talent, enduring dedication, and performances at the highest level. On behalf of World Rugby, I extend heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to them for their incredible achievements and the inspiring legacy they have left, which continues to resonate throughout the game.”
Fellow World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee and Chairman of the Hall of Fame panel John Eales said: “Again, this year’s World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees showcase rugby’s values, diversity, and evolution. The class features two rugby sevens stars, marking another Olympiad, and three legends from different eras. Notably, congratulations to Italy’s first-ever inductee, Sergio Parisse. Sergio’s selection celebrates a brilliant career and highlights Italy’s growing achievements amid rugby’s expansion worldwide.”
For more information on the World Rugby Hall of Fame, visit www.world.rugby/halloffame.
World Rugby Hall of Fame 2024 inductees
No.167 – Emilee Cherry (Australia)
No.168 – DJ Forbes (New Zealand)
No.169 – Sergio Parisse (Italy)
No.170 – Donna Kennedy (Scotland)
No.171 – Chris Laidlaw (New Zealand)
Emilee Cherry (Australia)
World Rugby Hall of Fame – Inductee No.167
A true pioneer of women’s rugby sevens, Emilee Cherry was one of several members of Australia’s touch football squad headhunted to lead the country’s charge towards gold as rugby sevens made its Olympic debut at the Rio 2016 Games.
Cherry burst on the scene with a debut for Australia in Dubai in 12, scoring seven tries – including a hat-trick against USA. Her skill to adapt quickly to the game was showcased, along with clever injections of speed and agility, an innate ability to read the game, and pure competitiveness.
However, it was under the tutelage of coach Tim Walsh that she came into her own. Cherry scored 33 tries during the 2013-14 series to become the first Australian to be named World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year.
Two years later she was a key cog in the Australian side that dethroned New Zealand as world series champions, scoring 22 tries in the process. Better was yet to come for Cherry and her team-mates, though, as they claimed Olympic gold at Deodoro Stadium in Rio. Her contribution to that triumph included a two-try salvo against Canada in the medal semi-finals and an assist for Ellia Green in the gold medal match. Whilst her attacking skills were praised, the defensive impact she had was also a highlight of the successful campaign.
Cherry spent some time away from the game in 2019, welcoming first child, Alice and seven months post-partum she returned in prolific fashion; scoring with her first two touches of the ball in 18 months at the HSBC NZ Sevens in 2020.
In total, Cherry scored 131 tries in 159 series matches, becoming only the second female to reach 100 series tries. She is a veteran of two Rugby World Cup Sevens and a Commonwealth Games silver, as well as that Olympic triumph.
Cherry (now Barton) has since become a key part of Walsh’s coaching staff for the Australia women’s sevens team as assistant coach. She has utilised her considerable experience and knowledge of the game being involved with both the RWC Sevens 2022 and Commonwealth Games successes as well as the Olympic Games Paris 2024 campaign.
DJ Forbes (New Zealand)
World Rugby Hall of Fame – Inductee No.168
A genuine sevens superstar, DJ Forbes was the fulcrum of one of the most successful New Zealand sides for more than a decade. Having made his HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series debut in Wellington in February 2006, Forbes and his distinctive beard were a mainstay on the circuit until he hung up his playing boots in May 2017.
Along the way he appeared in 89 series tournaments – playing 512 matches on the circuit – scoring 153 tries and amassing a shedload of medals. In total, Forbes won 26 tournaments, six overall series titles, one Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2010, silver in 2014 and a Rugby World Cup Sevens title in 2013.
He was also named World Rugby Men’s Sevens Player of the Year in 2008, following a campaign in which he scored 26 tries and led New Zealand to six tournament victories en route to their eighth series title.
That Forbes achieved most of that as New Zealand captain, wearing the armband between 2006-15, receiving the New Zealand Sevens Player of the Year a record four times and accepting the NZRPA Kirk Award in 2017 for his outstanding contribution as a player advocate for the game, only adds to his legend.
Forbes gave up the captaincy in the build-up to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in order to concentrate on earning his place in the tournament squad. It was a feat he inevitably achieved, going on to appear in all six of his country’s matches as New Zealand finished the inaugural men’s Olympic sevens tournament in fifth place.
Forbes is the nephew of late Samoa great and World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee Peter Fatialofa, who captained the Pacific Island nation to the Rugby World Cup 1991 quarter-finals.
Sergio Parisse (Italy)
World Rugby Hall of Fame – Inductee No.169
Arguably Italy’s greatest player and one of the best number eights the game has ever seen, Sergio Parisse had an incredible career that spanned more than two decades.
With his white boots and ability to offload and break the line Parisse was not your conventional forward, but he won the respect of rugby fans the world over for his dynamic displays from the back of the scrum, often single-handedly lifting the Azzurri to greater heights.
Born in Argentina to Italian parents, Italy’s talisman was handed his debut by John Kirwan, against the All Blacks in 2002. Only three players – Alun Wyn Jones, Samuel Whitelock and Richie McCaw – have made more test appearances than his final tally of 142.
One of the select few, including countryman Mauro Bergamasco, to have played in five Rugby World Cups, Parisse was denied what would have been a fitting swansong at Japan 2019 when Italy’s Pool B match against the All Blacks was unfortunately cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis.
While he never graced the test arena again beyond that tournament, the supremely fit back-row continued playing club rugby until he was 39. In his penultimate game for Toulon, the former Italy captain lifted the European Rugby Challenge Cup, scoring in the final against Glasgow Warriors.
It was his exploits for Stade Français, though, that he was best known, his poster boy image aligning perfectly with the bold-thinking Parisian club.
Parisse stayed with Stade Français for the majority of his domestic career. Between 2005 and 2019, he made 265 appearances for the club and won the Top 14 title twice and the European Rugby Challenge Cup once.
He is the first Italian to be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
Donna Kennedy (Scotland)
World Rugby Hall of Fame – Inductee No.170
Scotland’s most-capped player, male or female, Donna Kennedy was synonymous with the country’s women’s national team for much of the first two decades of its existence.
Kennedy made her test debut in Scotland’s first-ever international, lining up in the second row and helping her country to a 10-0 victory against Ireland on Valentine’s Day in 1993. A year later she appeared in her first Women’s Rugby World Cup, on home soil, and she would go on to play at five editions of the showpiece tournament.
In 2004, Kennedy displayed her versatility as she moved out of the Scotland back row – where she had become a mainstay – to win four caps on the wing. That year she was also named World Rugby’s International Women’s Personality of the Year and became the world’s most-capped women’s player, overtaking England’s Gill Burns when she played her 74th test.
Kennedy would stretch that record before she hung up her boots at the end of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010. By that time, the Biggar native – who played 95 of Scotland’s first 100 test matches – had amassed 115 caps, all from the start, as she became the first Scottish player to rack up a century of international appearances.
She would remain the world’s most-capped female player until England’s Rocky Clark surpassed her total in November 2016.
Following her playing career, Kennedy remained involved with the game as a coach with the Scottish Rugby Union and later took charge of English club Worcester before stepping down from that role in 2017.
The Donna Kennedy Cup was named in her honour in 2015 and ahead of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations 2024 she was one of three trailblazers of Scottish women’s rugby celebrated with a statue in Edinburgh.
In 2023, Kennedy co-founded the Scottish Thistle Rugby Clan with the key purpose being to support the past, present and future of the game within Scotland, holding their first event jointly the Wooden Spoons in April 2023 at Murrayfield.
Chris Laidlaw (New Zealand)
World Rugby Hall of Fame – Inductee No.171
Considered something of a rugby prodigy in his youth, Chris Laidlaw would fulfil his undoubted potential both on and off the pitch. One of the greatest scrum-halves to ever pull on an All Black number nine jersey, he has gone on to have an influential and varied career outside of the game. After he retired from rugby in 1970, he went on to enjoy a long and distinguished career as a diplomat, politician and broadcaster.
Mentored by former international scrum-half Charlie Saxton, Laidlaw was called into the New Zealand squad and made his test debut for the All Blacks at the age of 19, on their 1963-64 tour of the UK, France and Canada. Included on the trip primarily as an understudy to Kevin Briscoe, he did enough to earn a start for the test against Les Bleus, landing a drop goal in a 12-3 victory at Stade Colombes on 8 February, 1964.
It was the start of a six-and-a-half-year international career in which he made the scrum-half position his own. In total, Laidlaw played 20 tests for the All Blacks, captaining them against Australia in 1968 and playing in a further 37 tour and non-cap matches.
Across that time, his only test defeats in the famous black jersey came at the hands of South Africa. Even then, Laidlaw emerged victorious from four of his seven encounters with the Springboks. It was in Port Elizabeth that Laidlaw played his final test for the All Blacks. By then, he had become a Rhodes Scholar at Merton College, Oxford and captained Oxford University to victory against the touring Springboks.
His involvement wouldn’t end there. He became captain-coach of the Lyon team in France, the first foreign international to play such a role. As a diplomat in the Pacific he coached both Fiji and Samoa and in New Zealand he became a board member of the Hurricanes franchise and Wellington’s Sky Stadium.
He also wrote extensively and honestly about rugby – for British and New Zealand newspapers, and published two best-selling books, Mud in your Eye in 1972 and Somebody Stole my Game in 2010 as the rush of professionalism began to threatened rugby’s core values.
