All Blacks great declares Wallaby ‘the best number eight in the world’

81-Test All Blacks halfback Justin Marshall has declared Harry Wilson “the best number eight in the world” right now, after the Wallabies captain made a game-high 27 tackles and scored a try in the defeat at Eden Park last weekend.

Wilson was named in the 2025 World Rugby Dream Team after leading the Wallabies to famous wins against the British & Irish Lions and the Springboks. The backrower scored two tries in the remarkable 38-22 comeback at Johannesburg’s Emirates Airline Park.

The Wallabies have since rounded out their era under former coach Joe Schmidt with a one-sided 57-10 victory against Italy at HBF Park in Perth, and went their first five matches unbeaten under current boss Les Kiss.

But that run came to an end last weekend at Eden Park, with the All Blacks producing a clinical second-half performance as they prevailed 50-19. It had been a three-point game at the break, with Wilson touching down for a late score under the posts.

Wilson finished top of the tackle charts with 27 tackles made from as many attempts, and the No. 8 proved to be a reliable lineout target. The Wallabies may have lost the Bledisloe Cup series opener, but the skipper’s performance has generated some buzz.

“The ability for him to get around the field as a ball carrier and as a defender was just incredible. He’s an absolute machine,” Marshall said on The Good, The Bad & the Rugby Australia & New Zealand.

“He put some clean shots on quite a few players. If that Wallaby forward pack had seven more of him, I’d hate to face them because they would just be absolutely relentless.

“His attitude, his hunger, his care for what he’s doing out there – you can see that he bleeds for his country. For me, he’s the best number eight in the world at the moment. He is the epitome of exactly what being a Test number eight is all about.

“In a team that got beaten by [31] points, to be noticed and to put in effort like that, super impressed with him. Incredible.”

Legendary All Blacks No. 8 Kieran Read, who was recognised as the 2014 World Rugby Player of the Year, agreed that Wilson’s work rate is top tier. “I’ve had big raps on Wilson for a long time, mate,” Read agreed.

Read retired from international rugby after the 2019 Rugby World Cup bronze final in Japan, less than one year before Wilson’s Wallabies debut. Wilson debuted in Wallaby gold against the All Blacks in 2020, under now New Zealand coach Dave Rennie.

“The effort is 100 per cent there from that guy. That is someone who leads men… a fantastic player. Those hits that he put on a few guys near the touchline in the first half was just brutal. Concrete shoulders.

“A guy who just keeps working, working, working… puts his hand up, makes his tackles, runs the ball. 100 per cent put in the effort and as you say, he’ll need a bit more of that next week.”