I wrote to him as a kid back in 1997 and got a personal response from him that is one of my most treasured possessions. A phenomenal bloke and an absolute giant of the game!
Aw that's lovely. He reminds me of a a mate I had at school in Christchurch (looked just like him) Wonderful short arse unit! Absolute warrior. Christian had the running technique of a track athlete, full leg extension, ate up the ground. Best running full back to play the game 👊
Possibly best fullback ever?? I know there have some absolute giants in the game but his balance,timing and strength were superhuman not too mention his unshakeable humility.
I'm Welsh and agree Cullen is the best attacking full back to play the game. Use to love getting up the earlier hours to watch the All Black's in the Tri Nations brilliant rugby and that back three of Wilson, lomu and Cullen was the best
One of the most naturally-gifted runners ever, beautiful to watch. He got screwed-up later in his career by the coaches, put at centre or wing because of the failings of others, not his fault. Sad to believe he was gone from the ABs by the age of 28.
Cullen at Centre ...... THAT WAS BLOODY CRIMINAL. Like using a race horse to pull a plow. Videos of "Best Ever World Cup Rugby Tries", never feature Cully because he got HANDICAPPED at his RWC appearances.
I love Christian Cullen...its like watching a nature video of a graceful Antelope out-running a bunch of lions! Great video and awesome song choice - thanks!
I still remember try 18 as it happened yesterday... the pure smoothness of his running.. inside, outside, then inside again past George G... pure magic!
Im still in awe of players like Cullen - his ability to be fleet footed and so well balanced in the half tackles while still maintaining speed and balance was something else. Southern hemisphere style of rugby was taking on a more scientific and methodical coaching approach due to its professional growth but everytime i look back on this era and see these amazing players in their prime, its hard not to remember greats like Cullen, Mehrtens, Lomu, Zinzan, Bunce, Eels, Gregan, Horan, Campese,
Best 15 ever, and I'm an Aussie. It's easy to see why they name horses after him - he's the best runner ever. A joy to watch - try no. 39 is an all time classic. Hats off All Blacks and Christian Cullen you are a legend.
He was one of the best, him Wilson, Lomu and Umaga they were awesome, won't see their like together again. Glad to have witnessed them playing together for the AB's
Hitting power at first tackle, outright speed and no fear. Culley was one of a kind. Ive never watched a player before or since with more admiration and amazement.
It must be so good to re-watch all of these tries Christian Cullen. I laughed through it because its so so good. Never get tired of viewing this. Thanks for the excellent memories... awesome All Black. x
This compilation is even better than the previous Christian Cullen one i just watched. Thanks for bringing back some awesome rugby moments. Greatest running back of all time (in my opinion :) )
I pray for another Christian Cullen to come along and entertain like this again. There is only 1 word to describe this player and these tries, 'MAGIC'.
Sublime footwork, great speed and ball handling skills. He could create gaps and was a great finisher. His tackling skills were pretty solid too. I rate him well above Lomu. The 1996 game against Scotland is one of my favourites. The Paekakariki Express!
Hey Uploader, Thnx for putting this on here. As an American transplant to the UK, I have taken up rugby. I am doing my best to come up to speed on the right way to play, and watching Cullen's highlights gives me some insights into small adjustments I can make. I appreciate it.
Even as an Aussie I'll freely admit that Christian Cullen is the best Rugby fullback I've seen running around. He was such a balanced runner - even when defenders got pretty resonable shots on him he still remained upright and at speed. Great step, speed, and he read the play very well in defence as well. In fact, he was a far better defender than the much vaunted Australian fullback of the same era, Matt Burke. The only fullbacks in MHO that compare with Cullen, are Serge Blanco & Roger Gould.
Best player fo ALL Time acording to me. I watched international rugby from when the spingboks were readmitted, and have watched alot of the games before that since. Nothing scared me more as a Bok fan than him. I would rather face 3 Lomus than this guy who seems to stroll at a 100 miles an hour. Jonh Mitchell, a BIG thankyou, for helping a Bok fan sleep at night! :)
Mr Cullen would be in my all time great side. The man had so much skill and blistering speed. His balance is wonderful. A sheer delight to watch such great footage. Thank you
Why are there so many dislike's? John Mitchell and all his family logging in? Look at that door knob James small trying to leg trip him when he can't catch him haha. Jerkwad
+Peter Falwasser What did John Mitchell do? There's quite a few comments mentioning him, I'm not a Kiwi so I'm not sure what happened between Mitchell & Cullen?
@@chubb123 Mitchell felt Cullen wasn't 'performing' ........ this was AFTER, he was using him on the Wing and in the Centres ... somewhere Cully wasn't comfortable with. He was a Fullback ...... THE BEST FULLBACK IN THE WORLD. At the time, Cully was the top All Black try scorer (Still 9th place for most test Tries scored in the World .... 15 years later ), smart attacking player (could strike from anywhere), solid defence player (one of the strongest tacklers) and SERIOUSLY fast. So dropping Cully didn't make sense to anyone. Mitchell was a much respected player, Captain, etc for Waikato ...... but he didn't make too many fans when he took over the AB Coaching position.
Christian Cullen my identicate back then bro not so in body but in spirit . May I say phenomenal AB and bro i remember u . Thank you sir ! U r and still r AMAZING SIR
Thats an awesome compilation, thank you, much pleasure. I was at his first game in Napier, he can't remember 2 of the tries as he hit the goal post earlier on!! I won't forget them tho.
Thank you so much for this video. I totally forgot how ridiculously good he was. People say the game is getting faster and more skillful, but nobody in today's game compares to Cullen.
Cullen was a Legend. I haven’t seen any player yet with the skills to match Cullen. Christian Cullen was one of the best Rugby Players of all-time to wear the Black Jersey. Proud to be Kiwi.
Most of these are finishing tries so that's why some are a bit dull; but come on, look at his footwork in some of the other tries. He can dodge three, four, five tackles. Oustanding skill! : )
Outrageously talented player, that scoring record is just unreal. Never seems to get the recognition he deserves as one of the greats. Very similar player to Brian O'Driscoll in many ways, fantastic pace and change of direction. It's a shame he suffered such bad injury problems.
Reigns absolutely supreme in that position, my third pick for world fifteen behind Dan Carter and Michael Jones but only because first five and open flanker are arguably more important position. Mitchell the bald ape and Deans dole bludging dingo,shame on you for not having the faith that the whole flipping country had in pure magic. Below average coaches AND players the pair of them, I KNOW that to be right. Ten years on and it still vexes me something fierce.
hey my surname is cullen and we are not very much in the world so knowing we have such a great rugby player is an honor for me greetings from argentina an thanks for the tube
i miss watching Cully. him and Goldie were such a great foil! Cully was the Thorpedo of the rugby world IMO.. with his surreal stepping and gliding this twinkle-toes is a true freak!
Cullen is a V8 in a 4 cylinder race.This proves it.Who the fuck has this skill. The BEST player we have EVER had. Watchin wilson next to him he was the best also....
Yeah, Cullen was truly one of the best fullback I have ever seen. He is a complete fullback - has the pace, step, tackle, kick and read the game so well. Brilliant player. For Mitchell to drop him like that is beyond logic.
This is just his tries, if someone would do a vid of his tackles and his counter attacking from the back that would be more spectacular than his tries!
I was looking for Cullens try against South Africa in South Africa where he went in under the posts injecting himself through the center position getting the ball from around the 22 meter mark......It was a brilliant try I didn't see it here
Christian Cullen is, without doubt, the greatest All Black fullback in history. Leon Mcdonald never had ANYTHING on him. There's no point in even comparing the two. His blistering pace is testament to this.
As an Aussie rugby player, growing up, I always wished I could play like Cullen. He seemed to be the only person to be able to get to full speed then accelerate. Brilliant instinct for finding the tryline. Ran great angles.
I wrote to him as a kid back in 1997 and got a personal response from him that is one of my most treasured possessions. A phenomenal bloke and an absolute giant of the game!
that's awesome
+You're* That's a great name you've got there.
ty
Aw that's lovely. He reminds me of a a mate I had at school in Christchurch (looked just like him) Wonderful short arse unit! Absolute warrior. Christian had the running technique of a track athlete, full leg extension, ate up the ground. Best running full back to play the game 👊
Cully, best fullback ever to wear the black jersey, it was a privilege watching the magic unfold during my high school years in the mid 90s.
I agree bro
Possibly best fullback ever??
I know there have some absolute giants in the game but his balance,timing and strength were superhuman not too mention his unshakeable humility.
I'm Welsh and agree Cullen is the best attacking full back to play the game. Use to love getting up the earlier hours to watch the All Black's in the Tri Nations brilliant rugby and that back three of Wilson, lomu and Cullen was the best
The most naturally gifted runner of the ball in my living memory of the ABs. Tough little buggar, too.
Henry arundell
@@NickMenza21Didn't realise he was an All Black. 🙄
@@m.l.b.2908 Agree with you, I like unpredictables fullbacks like them, cullen, arundell, kolbe... Players difficults to stop, too much fast😳
One of the most naturally-gifted runners ever, beautiful to watch. He got screwed-up later in his career by the coaches, put at centre or wing because of the failings of others, not his fault. Sad to believe he was gone from the ABs by the age of 28.
xmojo1 I didn't realise he was only 28!! What a fuckin tragedy - my heart bleeds!
Cullen at Centre ...... THAT WAS BLOODY CRIMINAL. Like using a race horse to pull a plow.
Videos of "Best Ever World Cup Rugby Tries", never feature Cully because he got HANDICAPPED at his RWC appearances.
The best full back of all time! With love from Wales!
As a Welshman I second that, what a player, best offensive full back of All Time, with Lomu and Jeff Wilson what a back three
Imagine looking across at those three at the start of a game, you'd be deflated before you started
Best AB fullback ever!
How we never won the WC when he was playing I will never know.
Still my favourite AB of all time! Absolute Legend, and a humble one at that!
I love Christian Cullen...its like watching a nature video of a graceful Antelope out-running a bunch of lions! Great video and awesome song choice - thanks!
Cullen's is my favorite and the best all black player I have ever seen in my life watching all all blacks rugby union games
cheers for posting cuz, greatest player of all time
Little, Bunce, Umaga, Wilson, Cullen and Lomu. What a backline!
Dont forget Mils Muliaina one of my favorites.
One of the best backlines ever anytime, anywhere
I still remember try 18 as it happened yesterday... the pure smoothness of his running.. inside, outside, then inside again past George G... pure magic!
Im still in awe of players like Cullen - his ability to be fleet footed and so well balanced in the half tackles while still maintaining speed and balance was something else. Southern hemisphere style of rugby was taking on a more scientific and methodical coaching approach due to its professional growth but everytime i look back on this era and see these amazing players in their prime, its hard not to remember greats like Cullen, Mehrtens, Lomu, Zinzan, Bunce, Eels, Gregan, Horan, Campese,
Best 15 ever, and I'm an Aussie. It's easy to see why they name horses after him - he's the best runner ever. A joy to watch - try no. 39 is an all time classic. Hats off All Blacks and Christian Cullen you are a legend.
Ask anyone to name a world XV of all time.
99% will start with:
15) Christian Cullen
100% even in 2024
JPR Williams in his era changed the way a full back played and was a physical danger to the South Africans in 1974.
He was one of the best, him Wilson, Lomu and Umaga they were awesome, won't see their like together again. Glad to have witnessed them playing together for the AB's
With Frank Bunce.
Yes I should say they were the best back 3
Nothing wrong with Carter. Nonu.smith .mils.ben Smith cory jane
Will Jordan is on his way to being at Cullen's level. Best runner the ABs have right now.
Hitting power at first tackle, outright speed and no fear. Culley was one of a kind. Ive never watched a player before or since with more admiration and amazement.
Surely, christian Cullen was one if the worlds best!
I'm a South African and I still say Cullen was the best player ever. Exciting player.
I live next door to his brother Shane Cullen in Australia he's a good man
It must be so good to re-watch all of these tries Christian Cullen. I laughed through it because its so so good. Never get tired of viewing this. Thanks for the excellent memories... awesome All Black. x
Thanks to all the work to whoever compiled that.. I got teary eyed watching it! No question he was one of the best..
This compilation is even better than the previous Christian Cullen one i just watched. Thanks for bringing back some awesome rugby moments. Greatest running back of all time (in my opinion :) )
He and the great provider Wilson, made up some of the best back line ever. Regards from England
I pray for another Christian Cullen to come along and entertain like this again.
There is only 1 word to describe this player and these tries, 'MAGIC'.
He is the standard by which everybody else can be judged, like Richie McCaw and Opensides.
The greatest All Black fullback of all time
Theres nothing better than watching Lomu or Cullen in full flight.Total opposites physically but when the foot hits the gas oh boy........
From an Aussie - my favourite player of all time :)
A truly gifted runner. The pace, step and lines he ran were unmatched. Absolute legend.
Sublime footwork, great speed and ball handling skills. He could create gaps and was a great finisher. His tackling skills were pretty solid too. I rate him well above Lomu. The 1996 game against Scotland is one of my favourites. The Paekakariki Express!
thanx for uploading this. best running fullback ive ever seen. the last try i rate as his best. eyed up the corner and went for it like a machine
Hey Uploader,
Thnx for putting this on here. As an American transplant to the UK, I have taken up rugby. I am doing my best to come up to speed on the right way to play, and watching Cullen's highlights gives me some insights into small adjustments I can make.
I appreciate it.
Even as an Aussie I'll freely admit that Christian Cullen is the best Rugby fullback I've seen running around. He was such a balanced runner - even when defenders got pretty resonable shots on him he still remained upright and at speed. Great step, speed, and he read the play very well in defence as well. In fact, he was a far better defender than the much vaunted Australian fullback of the same era, Matt Burke. The only fullbacks in MHO that compare with Cullen, are Serge Blanco & Roger Gould.
Best player fo ALL Time acording to me. I watched international rugby from when the spingboks were readmitted, and have watched alot of the games before that since. Nothing scared me more as a Bok fan than him. I would rather face 3 Lomus than this guy who seems to stroll at a 100 miles an hour.
Jonh Mitchell, a BIG thankyou, for helping a Bok fan sleep at night! :)
Mr Cullen would be in my all time great side. The man had so much skill and blistering speed. His balance is wonderful. A sheer delight to watch such great footage. Thank you
Certainly the most balanced runner I've seen in the game (35 years of watching).
Watching Christian Cullen "the Paekakariki Express" is pure poetry in motion
Why are there so many dislike's? John Mitchell and all his family logging in? Look at that door knob James small trying to leg trip him when he can't catch him haha. Jerkwad
+Peter Falwasser What did John Mitchell do? There's quite a few comments mentioning him, I'm not a Kiwi so I'm not sure what happened between Mitchell & Cullen?
John Mitchell was the coach who dropped him from the All Blacks.
@@chubb123 Mitchell felt Cullen wasn't 'performing' ........ this was AFTER, he was using him on the Wing and in the Centres ... somewhere Cully wasn't comfortable with. He was a Fullback ...... THE BEST FULLBACK IN THE WORLD. At the time, Cully was the top All Black try scorer (Still 9th place for most test Tries scored in the World .... 15 years later ), smart attacking player (could strike from anywhere), solid defence player (one of the strongest tacklers) and SERIOUSLY fast. So dropping Cully didn't make sense to anyone.
Mitchell was a much respected player, Captain, etc for Waikato ...... but he didn't make too many fans when he took over the AB Coaching position.
So graceful and captivating to watch. Best 15 for me.
Christian Cullen my identicate back then bro not so in body but in spirit . May I say phenomenal AB and bro i remember u . Thank you sir ! U r and still r AMAZING SIR
Thats an awesome compilation, thank you, much pleasure. I was at his first game in Napier, he can't remember 2 of the tries as he hit the goal post earlier on!! I won't forget them tho.
So true. You have to take him on first pick, if you don't, the guy with 2nd pick will, and then you will be in trouble.
That step off both feet and his lines of running were something else.
I remember cully came to my high school and benchpressed 155 kg, i remember it like yesterday.
thank you for putting this together, amazing. And try number 39! What a set move!!
Thank you so much for this video. I totally forgot how ridiculously good he was. People say the game is getting faster and more skillful, but nobody in today's game compares to Cullen.
Cullen was a Legend. I haven’t seen any player yet with the skills to match Cullen. Christian Cullen was one of the best Rugby Players of all-time to wear the Black Jersey. Proud to be Kiwi.
Was so great watching such legends growing up, Cullen, Lomu, Wilson.. the list just goes on, special players.
Most of these are finishing tries so that's why some are a bit dull; but come on, look at his footwork in some of the other tries. He can dodge three, four, five tackles. Oustanding skill! : )
Outrageously talented player, that scoring record is just unreal. Never seems to get the recognition he deserves as one of the greats. Very similar player to Brian O'Driscoll in many ways, fantastic pace and change of direction. It's a shame he suffered such bad injury problems.
try 39 !! they don't come much better than that. best fullback ever to put on a pair of footy boots.
No.41 was just magic
frightening pace and swerve , he was a genius
Thanks for uploading awesome Cullen
As both an Australian and rugby fan I can honestly say Cullen was one of the classic finishers - loved to watch his acceleration and speed
It's fitting that the audio ran out of puff before Cullen did.
Reigns absolutely supreme in that position, my third pick for world fifteen behind Dan Carter and Michael Jones but only because first five and open flanker are arguably more important position. Mitchell the bald ape and Deans dole bludging dingo,shame on you for not having the faith that the whole flipping country had in pure magic. Below average coaches AND players the pair of them, I KNOW that to be right. Ten years on and it still vexes me something fierce.
I'd forgotten how class this guy was. The effortless pace and power. What a hero.
A big call, but Cullen is the greatest player ever in my view. So much pace, so much skill. An absolute joy to watch. Try #18 - pure freakish.
Omg the try at 3:12 hitting the line at pace and just beating everyone. Bloody awesome.
That was awesome. Number 4 is just the most incredible run ever. Man, Cully was such a legend.
best creative running player ever. I´ve seen this video a thousand times. Great!!!
hey my surname is cullen and we are not very much in the world so knowing we have such a great rugby player is an honor for me
greetings from argentina an thanks for the tube
i miss watching Cully. him and Goldie were such a great foil! Cully was the Thorpedo of the rugby world IMO.. with his surreal stepping and gliding this twinkle-toes is a true freak!
I'm an English rugby fan, and have been for the last 50 years, and I've never seen a fullback to touch him: Cullen was unquestionably the best ever.
There will never be another player like Christian Cullen. He was da MAN!!!
CC Is an all time great. He was such a balanced runner and had space awareness that few can match. David from Wales
He's the reason I got into rugby... brings back memories... LEGEND.
Great compilation...makes it looks so easy...incredible pace.
Great player and a great man - Christian Cullen!
i love this video so much! :') i used to watch it with my dad when i was younger,
Cullen , the greatest fullback of all time !!
well done, great vid, 41 of his tries out of 46. love it.
thanks for adding the rest of the tries in the descriptioon
got it 53 all blacks test 46 test trys not including HK sevens legend
Thanks for sharing. Greatest full back ever.
That try against Scotland in Dunedin in 1996 @ 0:26. I can remember watching it on TV and being blown away by it at the time. What a step.
Cullen is a V8 in a 4 cylinder race.This proves it.Who the fuck has this skill.
The BEST player we have EVER had.
Watchin wilson next to him he was the best also....
What a backline in that era all freakishly skilled icing on top wickedly fast
geez we've had some heroes in the All Blacks, I had nearly forgotten just how good culley was. awesome!
Unreal pace, deceptive strength, fast reflexes and a quick mind. One of the best players ever.
Yeah, Cullen was truly one of the best fullback I have ever seen. He is a complete fullback - has the pace, step, tackle, kick and read the game so well. Brilliant player. For Mitchell to drop him like that is beyond logic.
This is just his tries, if someone would do a vid of his tackles and his counter attacking from the back that would be more spectacular than his tries!
sick video, you could do this for all the great all black try scorers, I wanna Wilsons
One of the greatest fullbacks ever, that 2nd try in jo'burg 2000 was amazing such speed
try 39 easily the best set play move iv seen executed in a test
You are the best 15 we've had 😊
CC is my all time best full back.
I could watch this all day.
I was looking for Cullens try against South Africa in South Africa where he went in under the posts injecting himself through the center position getting the ball from around the 22 meter mark......It was a brilliant try I didn't see it here
how easy do all his tries look? Just pure timing. A player who I hope will go down as an all time greate. Total class. Andy from England.
Best full back ever.
And a cracking soundtrack fitting of such a legend too 🤩
How would you pick Blanco over Cullen, Cullen is the best Fullback ever period.
Christian Cullen is, without doubt, the greatest All Black fullback in history. Leon Mcdonald never had ANYTHING on him. There's no point in even comparing the two. His blistering pace is testament to this.
Cullen has some awesome talent, it was great watching him step, and play sevens
As an Aussie rugby player, growing up, I always wished I could play like Cullen. He seemed to be the only person to be able to get to full speed then accelerate. Brilliant instinct for finding the tryline. Ran great angles.
mate try number 39 is insane..awsome vid bro
Top player aye. Go bro, too good! Legend status tbh 🕺
Much underrated. No fanfare, just got on with the job at hand. Good ole kiwi fulla.