Rugby: Top 10 best buys

Jonah Lomu was a commercial success at Cardiff. Photo / Getty Images

Last week, we looked at the 10 worst purchases of players in New Zealand rugby. This week, Gregor Paul looks at the 10 best.

1. Jason Holland (Taranaki to Munster via Midleton)
A tidy operator at No 10 for Manawatu between 1991-96, Jason Holland failed to win a Hurricanes contract, so in 1999 he joined little-known Midleton - a strictly amateur outfit toiling in the lower divisions of the All Ireland League.

Holland caught the eye of the Munster selectors, who offered him a two-year deal worth just €25,000 a season.

It was a brilliant deal for the club. Holland broke into the first team immediately as a second-five who could play at 10 and was an integral part of their 2002 Heineken Cup success. He scored a critical try in the shock semifinal win.

In a six-year Munster career he played 102 games and was so highly thought of by the club, he returned in 2007 and is now assistant coach.

2. Lifeimi Mafi (Taranaki to Munster)
Lifeimi Mafi was an age-grade star with the New Zealand Under 19s and Colts. He was a rock solid performer with Taranaki but couldn't win that elusive Hurricanes contract.

Munster wanted a squad man to play mainly in the Magners League when the big stars were resting from Heineken Cup duty - so they offered Mafi that gig on a modest contract.

Mafi became an integral member of their senior squad and is now recognised as one of the most dangerous midfield operators in the European game. He was outstanding in the 2006 triumph against Biarritz and defended brilliantly in the second title win in 2008 against Toulouse.

3. Joe Maddock (Canterbury to Bath)
Joe Maddock played for Canterbury in 2001, earning a Crusaders contract in 2002. He couldn't break into the championship-winning side that year, relying on cameo appearances. He did so again in 2003 before departing for Bath in 2004 after making a total of 16 appearances (mainly from the bench) for the Crusaders.

Bath picked him on the cheap - estimates put the contract at about £70,000 a season. But Maddock has become one of the most reliable performers at the Recreation Ground.

He's been a huge hit with Bath fans and has been a regular top try scorer.

4. Bruce Reihana (Waikato to Northampton)
A star with the Chiefs and Waikato, Bruce Reihana never managed his ultimate goal of becoming a regular All Black. He played two tests in 2000 and never looked comfortable. So at 26, he decided to join Northampton in 2002. His initial contract was thought to be worth about £180,000 a season - good but not spectacular money. Yet Reihana's performances were more spectacular than good.

He was the players' player of the year in 2004 and captain in 2005. His time at the Saints overlapped with that of Wayne Smith, the current All Blacks backs coach who was supremo at Northampton between 2002 and 2004.

Smith wanted to bring Reihana back to New Zealand and a deal was struck in 2005 - but the Saints were so reluctant to lose their skipper they upped his money to an estimated £250,000 a season. Still good value for what he has delivered - 165 games and 917 points.

5. Rua Tipoki (Waikato to Bay of Plenty)
Strictly speaking, this wasn't a buy, it was a loan. Tipoki had come back from Japan in 2004 to study for a law degree. He played club football in Hamilton and was part of John Mitchell's Waikato squad right up until he was sent off for indiscipline in a crucial game.

Mitchell axed him and Tipoki would have missed the NPC had it not been for Bay of Plenty taking him on loan. Tipoki was desperate to resurrect his career so was on the minimum terms as agreed by the player collective - which didn't amount to much more than about $10,000 for the season. He turned out to be one of the best players of the year - helping the Steamers to secure the Ranfurly Shield and then make the semifinals.

He was even close to All Black selection and made the Blues in 2005.

6. Warren Gatland (Thames Valley to Connacht)
Everyone knew Gatland was a decent player. There was no such certainty he was going to be a decent coach. He had some experience with the Galwegians club towards the end of his playing days when he spent his off-seasons there, and he had a couple of years coaching Thames Valley.

Irish province Connacht were in need of a coach in 1996 and knew Gatland from his time at Galwegians. They had no money and Gatland, still only 33 at the time, had next to no experience so it was a fair deal.

In two years Connacht were turned into world beaters - twice defeating Northampton and making the quarterfinals of the European Challenge Cup.

Having spent almost nothing to get him, Connacht were delighted to see Gatland get his just rewards in 1998 when he was appointed coach of Ireland.

7. Sonny Parker (Auckland Marist to Pontypridd via Italy)
A handy enough player with the Marist club in Auckland, Parker took up on offer to play in Italy during the off-season to help him back into form after a serious leg injury.

While there, Welsh club Pontypridd made him an offer - thought to be about £40,000 a season - on the recommendation of Welsh coach Graham Henry. The Welsh needed a strong, straight-running midfielder and Henry knew of Parker from his Auckland days.

Parker was a budget buy, given his lack of experience, but he held his own, earning a place in the Welsh development squad in 2001 as a sure sign he would be in the national frame once he was eligible (on residency).

He won his first full cap later that year and went on to play at two World Cups. He has a total of 30 Welsh caps and is still playing for the Ospreys.

8. Riki Flutey (Wellington to London Irish)
The story of Flutey is well known. He was a promising age grade player who could never nail a starting spot for either Wellington of the Hurricanes. There was no great surprise in 2005 when he announced he would be leaving New Zealand - his career had stagnated and there was little hope of a breakthrough. He was picked up by London Irish on a deal thought to be in the region of about £80,000. That would be the last we would hear of him, surely? Not so. After helping Irish reach the playoffs for the first time in 2007 he was picked up by Wasps. He helped them win the Premiership and Heineken Cup and was named England's Player of the Year. In 2008 he was called into the England squad and then in April this year was named as a British Lion.

9. Tony Marsh (Counties to Montferrand)
Marsh was a strong player but no more than on the periphery at both the Blues and Crusaders between 1996 and 1998. Unable to establish himself in New Zealand, he joined Montferrand in France. The French club didn't break the bank to get him - they didn't have to.

It was an inspired signing. With regular opportunity Marsh showed he was a class act. He helped take Montferrand (now Clermont) to the Top 14 final in 1999, 2001 and 2007. They won the European Challenge Cup twice in 1999 and in 2007, as well as the now-defunct French national cup in 2001.

After three years in France he became eligible to play for les Bleus and Bernard Laporte named him in the French squad in 2001. He went on to win 21 French caps between 2001 and 2004, scoring seven tries and helping France win the Grand Slam in 2002.

He also overcame testicular cancer to play at the 2003 World Cup.

10. Jonah Lomu (North Harbour to Cardiff)
The biggest name in rugby had endured a kidney transplant. He made it back to the playing field in 2005 but dislocated his shoulder in his comeback game at Twickenham. That required surgery and he missed the NPC that year. Desperate to win a Super 14 contract, he took up an offer to play for Cardiff at the end of the year. It was a pay-for-play deal given the big man's perilous fitness.

In front of a record home crowd, Lomu scored his first try for Cardiff on 27 December 2005, with a man-of-the-match performance during a Celtic League 41-23 win against the Newport Gwent Dragons.

That alone was enough to justify bringing him over. His playing contribution - 10 games and one try - was nothing special but he put bums on seats and, commercially, he was dynamite.