Mark Keohane's the Chosen 23

My son Oliver asked me which players I rated the best during my time writing rugby. I asked him to qualify what he meant by ‘best’ as I had reported on so many good South African and international players since 1992. ‘Which players made the biggest impact on you?’ he asked. I said there were so many. He challenged me again and asked me if I had to pick a Springbok match-day 23 and a World 23 from every player I had seen live since 1992, how would it look? And so, The Chosen 23, was born during lockdown. I started writing as a 15 year-old for my local ‘knock and drop’ and reported on my first Springbok Test on South Africa’s return from international sporting isolation in 1992.