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Wallabies first five-eighth Stephen Larkham and coach John Connolly doubt anyone will ever come close to matching George Gregan's amazing rugby longevity.
Gregan played his 133rd test last night, against South Africa at Telstra Stadium. By the time he retires after the Rugby World Cup in October, the veteran could have extended his world record to as many as 140 caps.
"I can't see it being beaten," Larkham said. "I mean, the game has changed somewhat now in that you get to play 13 or 14 tests a year every year so conceivably if you play for 10 years and you play every single test, you'll only just get there.
"And 10 years is a pretty long career, even now. I think it's actually probably harder now than back 20 years ago because you play so many games."
Gregan, a rare survivor from rugby's amateur era after making his international debut in 1994, broke former England prop Jason Leonard's world-record tally of 119 test caps last year and Connolly believes his new mark will stand the test of time.
"He may end up with 140 test caps. I'm not sure if any other player in history will do that," Connolly said.
Larkham, 33, entered the most exclusive club in Australian rugby, celebrating his 100th test against the Springboks, but the master No 10 still marvels at Gregan's remarkable staying powers.
He lauded the 34-year-old halfback for his unrivalled work ethic.
"Just his preparation before matches, his professionalism, I don't think you'll get anyone as good as him and I think that's testament to the amount of test matches he's played," Larkham said before joining Gregan and David Campese, with 101 tests, as the only members of Australia's 100-club.
Gregan's critics were writing his rugby obituary when he opted out of last year's spring tour and allowed Matt Giteau to star in the Wallabies' No 9 jumper.
After Giteau played all four tests on the European tour at half, even Connolly felt he was probably Australia's best No 9 option for the World Cup, preferring him to Gregan for the season-opening internationals against Wales last month.
But since winning back his starting position, with Giteau reverting to second five-eighth, Gregan has helped transform Australia's fortunes to such an extent that they stormed back into World Cup reckoning with a stunning 20-15 upset of the All Blacks last weekend.
Gregan admits sitting out the tour was a gamble but he was always confident he made the right decision.
"It was all about getting myself personally in as good a shape as I could for this year to give it my best possible shot and that's panned out really well," he said.
"I thought I had a really good year last year and I went into the end of that season knowing that everything I'd wanted to do I had achieved.
"But you're only as good as your next game and obviously your last game and that's pretty much been my attitude throughout my whole career.
"So getting an off-season was really, really important to me because I wanted to be physically in a really good space going into my final year. I think that's a big box you like to tick as an athlete - physical preparation.
"If you've done everything you can to get yourself physically right, then you can apply all the other things you've got to do - skill set, consistency and performance - all those things and you can apply those with more confidence as well."
- AAP
