As we obsess about whether the Bledisloe Cup will reside in its spiritual home of Wellington this year, we can forget that sport is a broad church. Ask a local in Bangkok, for example, what they think of Richie McCaw and you're likely to get a quizzical stare. Ask that same person about Samart Payakaroon and the reaction is likely to be totally different.
Here are five legends of sport, some you might never have heard of.
Christy Ring
Making his debut for Cork in 1939 as a 19-year-old, Ring would go on to play hurling for his county for the next 24 years, winning eight All-Ireland Medals. His club, Glen Rovers, won 13 championships. The unprepossessing truck driver was universally recognised as one of the legends of Ireland's national sport and 60,000 people turned up to his funeral after he died of a heart attack aged just 58.
Rakesh Kumar
The 33-year-old Indian is recognised as the best raider in the ancient south Asian sport of kabbadi. The sport involves a raider foraying into the enemy camp to touch rival defenders while they try to prevent him from returning to his court. This they do by holding him in a melee of bodies known as a struggle. A good raider will ensure he touches rival defenders and reaches the touch line to score.
