American Reacts to Christian Cullen Highlights (Rugby Legend) 

Thanks for the shout out! Happy to collaborate and I'm glad you and your audience like our content!

I'm South African and can tell you that 1997- 2003 All blacks was Probably the best world 15 that never won a RWC. I watched them live on a couple times against the Boks, man they where impressive Cullen, Lomu, Marshall, Mehrtens, Umaga, Spencer, Ieremia will put most current International back lines to shame today. Im a Bok Supporter but they where so impressive you could do nothing but stand up and applaud them. I still say to this day that Cullen was the best Back line player I have ever had the opportunity to see play in my life a Living Legend !!!!

I watched Christian Cullen play for New Zealand against my hometown team Llanelli in Wales in 1997. NZ won 81-3 and he scored 5 tries. At that moment he became my favourite ever player. Best player I’ve ever seen live. And I got his autograph afterward as well. Total gent

You are the first US youtuber to say a Te Reo Maori place name perfectly. Well done

Christian Cullen is the benchmark by which I judge all other fullbacks. For me, he's the GOAT (and I'm not even a Kiwi). Brave in defence and devastating in attack with exceptional skills and pace. Absolute legend of the game. And yes, he played alongside other legends like the man-mountain Lomu (RIP).

Nailed pronouncing Paekakariki - Well done you fella, appreciate you putting the effort in to get it right.

Paekakariki is a difficult word, your pronunciation was perfect! Number 14 at 14:05 is Tana Umaga. The salute they do is a 'Captain Hurricane', since Lomu, Umaga and Cullen were all members of the Hurricanes Team (the yellow and blacks).

Christian Cullen the greatest fullback ever!

Hands down the best attacking fullback of all time.

Marked him at high school. Coach pointed him out before the game and said watch that bugger like a hawk! I said don't worry coach, i got him...5 minutes in, he's already run around me twice and scored twice.

I was at the game in Sydney where he scored the 100m try. The one you said you had seen before. He was 18 yrs old. First game in Australia. We heard of this kid called Cullen. We went to see. We saw! My favourite player ever

Ahhh, Wellingtons glory years... Christian Cullen, Tana Umaga, Jonah Lomu, Jerry Collins, Piri Weepu. I loved Tanas responses to journalist quastions... "Well, it was a game of two halfs, and at the end of the day, rugby was the winner." or ""We're not playing tiddly-winks out there".

Australian here: Cullen was an absolute freak. Almost unstoppable. Other than maybe Campese, I haven’t seen another footballer move so fluently. An absolute pleasure to watch

I'm a Saffer, and only nowadays after the pain of losing has dimmed can I enjoy his brilliance, so often against my Boks. Him and Jerome Kaino my favourite ABs.

That number 14 you mentioned towards the end was Tana Umaga, check him out too, immense player!

Watch Cullen in the 1996 Hong Kong 7’s final. That was the start of Cullen’s greatness.

I was privileged to have been at his last game for the Canes at Wellington. He scored a couple of his normal everyday (everyone else would say amazing) tries and was subbed off about 5 mins before the end of the game. The game stopped for two minutes while he was given a standing ovation.

46 tries in 58 tests for NZ. He was dropped by coach Jon Mitchell in 2003 so he moved to Ireland to play for Munster but his time there was spoiled by constant injuries so he decided to retire in 2007 and returned to NZ to start a business. Sadly he never won a world cup but was part of a simply brilliant attacking NZ team.

As a kiwi rugby fan he was my favorite AllBlack. I had the opportunity and privilege to meet him and play a round of golf with him last summer. Heck of a nice guy. Had a coke and a chat afterwards. Great to talk with him about the good old days. Real humble guy. I thanked him for the great rugby memories.

A real humble man too. He holds a special place in New Zealand rugby folklore. You won't hear a bad word said about him.

I’m beginning to remember why I used to enjoy watching rugby in the late 1990’s - so much space and flow to the game. He was truly outstanding to watch - and part of a legendary roster.

Most exciting player to watch of all time in my humble opinion

He had that knack of running onto the ball at warp speed which threw defenders off balance. From that point on he was unstoppable. One of my all time fav NZ players and NZ have had some good ones.

I used to work as a chef in a restaurant that Cullen was a part owner of in wellington and can say having got to know him that yes he is a legend, on and off the field.

Cullen was the perfect storm. Just incredibly good in every aspect. Brilliant to watch.

Christian Cullen played great consistently at test level. Remember he played against the best from every country and often dominated. He was great at finding gaps in the defence or creating gaps. He was consistently good at defence as well. When he started young his best skills was being able to run faster than most and being able to step off each foot , changing direction while running at full pace. He was one of the reasons people focused on speed in 7s, countries tried getting sprinters to try rugby.

The best fullback in world history...he glides over the ground..stunning running style!!

Thanks so much for showing these clips again Christian Cullen was amazing and an absolute Rugby Freak❤️😊👍🏻

Cullen was a cult hero in NZ rugby. Was an amazing 7's player as well.

Hearing some of the other names he played with brings back tough memories for South African fans! Andrew Mehrtens, Tana Umaga, Justin Marshall, Zinzan Brooke, Tane Randall, Carlos Spencer. Absolute legends!

8:45 Hurricanes game you hear '...off the back by Barrett...'. That's Kevin Barrett, the dad of All Blacks Scott and Jordie and 2 times World Player of the year Beauden!

I played against him when Foxton played Paekakariki B when he was playing club rugby. Needless to say we lost but I recall him scoring several tries. We knew he was a freak. The greatest fullback in the world.

Always great hearing an American's perspective on rugby. With physical contact sports in their DNA, they always pick up things others never see, even if they've never seen a particular game before, like Cullen shrugging off that guy holding him back to be in a position to scoop up the loose ball. Over the years, I've never seen anyone else pick that up before.

Great pronunciation of Paekakariki brother. Cully was one of the best running fullbacks to play the game with very deceptive speed and unbelievable balance and strength. By the way, those aren't shoulder pads, those were just Sean Fitzpatricks shoulders

Thanks for covering this legend, he lived up the road from me and you used to see him often in central Wellington out with Tana and Jonah. Smoothest fullback runner ever.

Cullen and the Fijian winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca are the two smoothest runners I've seen on a rugby field. As you say, just gliding across the turf. Cully was amazing to watch.

Christian Cullen is the GOAT. Noone could stop him.

Christian Cullen … poetry in motion… I remember those years… his running was soo fluid!

Fabulous review, have subscribed to your channel for more of your insights. I'm a New Zealander and a very proud one ❤

Just a superbly balanced runner. Evasive and jet fast. Total class and arguably the greatest attacking fullback of all time.

I trained with Cullen when he was getting ready for his charity boxing fight. Fight for life. Hes a good man.

Not many know he's freakishly powerful . They have stories of him in the gym doing power lifting . Then you add speed and timing...beautiful to watch.

The guy playing number 14 at the 14 minute mark is Tana Umaga, I remember watching this game on tv, it was an electric game to watch and the set plays like that one were incredible to watch.

South african players of this era said he was the most feared player because of his scoring ability

He was my hero back in the day growing up in 90s. Majority of our legends were. Add in the 90s

He made running at pace look graceful and elegant, Speed, pace n power. An absolute out in out finisher. Umaga 14, Lomu 11, Cullen at 15.

“NTL” is Natal from Durban in South Africa. They also played under “Natal Sharks” at various times over the years..

Thanks for your video, and great pronunciation. Christian Cullen played when 4:3 was the TV aspect ratio and the highlights video has squashed it into the 16:9 HD Radio, hence everyone looks wider than the really were, including Jonah Lomu's legs, etc. but yes his thighs were big! 😊

Cullen was king of reading holes, if you watch the video again hes going at full speed because hes already seen that hole

NTL is Natal And the salute was a Wellington Hurricanes team try celebration so when they played for the All Blacks the team mates still gave the salute.

Long but yet elusive stride, one of the best.

And such a humble guy.

The salute is for captain hurricane, the mascot of the three players from the hurricanes in that shot 12:45ish. Anyway great cohesion because they all played club level together to. Tana umanga, pita alatini and christian Cullen. Also my favourite fullback of all time.

The salute is for the Mascot Captain Hurricane from the Wellington Hurricanes Super Rugby team !

I remember when he was dropped by John Mitchell the whole country was pissed off. He was in a team of talented players at the time. Incidentally John Mitchell's son is in the New Zealand cricket team the black caps and was pissed off at his old man for dropping his favorite player in Cullen.

Yep Cullen "the king of bull rush" from a old school mate.

Salute to Wellington. Lions, Hurricanes & All Blacks Legend

I remember when he made the NZ team in 1996. Especially that tour of South Africa. Phenomenal. He was part of a generation of NZ fullbacks that really changed how no. 15s played the game. That came down to investment by the NZ Rugby Union into 7s rugby. Increased players' skill levels.

Thank you dude - favourite all time player. He’d leave today’s lot standing still. As you picked up the way he glided was crazy

One of the best ever to do it and certainly one of the greatest I saw play in the flesh. He must have shit on John Mitchell's strawberries at some point to get dropped for the ABs after scoring 46 tries in 57 tests. GOAT full-back imho.

The sign that Christian and others made, was a salute to Captain Hurricane. Umanga and others were team members with him for Wellington as a super rugby team they were called the Hurricanes. Due to the fact that Wellington is probably the windiest city anywhere. Cullen was also an amazing 7's player, more than once catching the ball behind his own line and ruuning the length of the field to score at the other end. Nice clips bro :) btw you did pronounce Paekakariki correctly

Complete legend. No other full back ever comes close

It was his speed and his size that made Cullen such an elusive attacker! No one could catch him till he suffered a major knee injury around 2001/2002 where it was notable he had lost his speed and all of sudden people are starting to catch him - very sad because he was still young when he suffered that knee injury!

I watched Cullen in the NZ Sevens Team and knew he was something special. When he became an All Black, I knew he would carve it up. His first game against Samoa he got 3 tries, and then his next game against Scotland they were all wary of Lomu. They didn't know what hit them when Cullen got 4 tries. Gavin Hastings afterward said, "Who on earth is that?" (paraphrased)

Part of the AB's best ever back three. Jonah 11, Goldie 14 and Cully 15. Cully was incredible

Cullen I think actually burst onto the scene in international RUGBY SEVENS where I remember watching him score the best individual try ever seen, from his own in goal.

I was there at McLean Park in Napier, New Zealand in 1996 when Cullen made his debut for the All Blacks, against Samoa.

Ah, The magic of Christian Cullen 💛, people would say he just had natural instinct when running through the opposition D. Paekākāriki - you nailed that pronunciation brother. Well done. Its a small flat area between the sea and very high steep ranges. The railway line follows the coast to a railway station there in the little settlement. He was from there, hence the Paekāk Express! A fitting name for him. Captain Hurricane is our Hurricanes mascot, the Cpt Hurricanes salute is show of loyalty to the Canes when playing as All Blacks between him Tana Umanga (the AB winger with the dreads) who were both stars of our Hurricanes team. Id be surprised if John Mitchells name doesnt come up here in the comments. He was the coach that dropped Christian Cullen for what the public believed were personal reasons! Cullen found out he was dropped, by hearing it on a radio announcement. Needless to say, we in Wgtn, were disgusted and heartbroken by this. Mitchell was a not-quite-there All Black but successful Waikato Captain in his time, he has flitted around the world as a coach but has left many disgruntled players in his wake.

England rugby fan here. I picture CC just taking off, and that old school jersey is just a sail billowing behind him as he scathes across the pitch.. I’m an athletics fan also and from memory he was properly fast. Was he the fastest guy in NZ at the time?

Love how you honour one of our greats and recognise Lomu. The number 14 and an All Black Captain was Tana Umaga

He's a legend , best full back all time great. LEGEND

4:30 powerful, I remember hearing stories from our college (High School) rugby coach (Kapiti) where he went as well. Saying he would often spend the time between afternoon classes and trainings in the gym lifting weights. He was insanely strong for a shorter guy, especially at 15/16. Then he got kicked out of school cos he spent too much time training instead of going to class.

Cullen played for Wellington and the Hurricanes provincial teams in NZ, im from Christchurch which is the Canterbury and Crusaders equivalent, also from NZ, so opposing teams and rivalries, but even me with my One-Eyed Canterbury colours on ( rival supporters call us Cantab supporters one-eyed, as we are so passionate and vocal in our undying support of our team ), but even i have no problem in saying that Cully is the greatest Fullback this country has seen. His career was cut short by an idiot coach that used him as a scapegoat, otherwise he would've been playing for another 4-5 years of top level rugby. The way he just glided over the field, making it look effortless. He was a joy to watch, even against us. Him and Lomu was a great time to watch live rugby, and on the same team, forget about it.

The salutes he was doing was a Wellington thing they did if my memory serves me. Was nice to watch these tries. Exciting Rugby. Cullen played Sevens too. Member a try at the Hong Kong Sevens wnen he picked the ball up in behind the try line and they went the whole field, to score, awesome.

Love your reaction bro. Cullen is my fav All Black player of all time. Such an awesome rugby player and his running style is amazing 💯

You pronounced that reo better than many New Zealand pakeha! Kia ora bro!

Thank you, bro. Love that you showed this!😊

These were very special years for NZ rugby, so many unbelievable players including Cullen, Umanga, Zin Zan Brooke, Justin Marshall, Jeff Wilson, Andrew Mehrtens and the Goat Jonah Lomu! Sadly none of these players won the World Cup but they created the pride for the black jersey which would be inherited by future All Black greats like Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Ma’a Nonu, Aaron Smith and the list goes on. Also your pronunciation of Paekakariki was perfect! Well done!

"the salute" (not sure if someone mentioned it before) is from the hurricanes/wellington connection, they used to do it after scoring a try. cullen and umunga (#14) were teammates for wellington.

He is insane 😯

The best broken field runner, support player and line breaking freak, look like he was jogging but running away from most

Cully was also clocked over 100m at 0.5sec over Olympic qualifying time when he was at full rugby weight.

Good to see Scotland's defence has improved over the years.

Christian Cullen in his prime is hands down the best fullback I've ever seen.

Awesome pronunciation 🤙🏽, the Paekakariki express would be proud.

Glad you finally checked him out! He's an absolute legend that revolutionized his position and one of, if not my favorite player of all time. I hope you still get to check out Gerber - also ahead of his time like Cullen.

Gives me goosebumps watching him. ❤

Great pronunciation, he was a legend

Team of the Century all day every day.

you missed the sharpest move of all - the classic wingers' in-out at 7:48 - beautiful.

One amazing fact about Cullen: In the Hurricanes, despite being the smallest player, he could bench press 145kg. Only big prop Bull Allen could bench more than him. He was super strong, which explains his speed and elusiveness.

The AB tem he was in with Lomu was packed with all time greats. Lomu , Umaga, Wison, Mertens the list goes on. The guy you said look at those shoulder pads was Sean Fitzpatrick who was one of the greatest all black hookers and one of the greatest all black captains of the side but to be fair was second behind Richie McCaw in my opnion. The rules were a bit different back then and wide expansive back play in rugby was a huge part of the game. The modern game has gone a bit more like rugby legue with flat defencive lnes etc. I prefer the the 90's era rules but we have what we have to day. Still a great game.

Cullen, what a legend!!. I enjoyed your commentary my friend and your analysis on him and the general play, you could be a tv presenter. And you did pronounce Paekakariki right! Exceptional work mate!!

Kiwi here. Nice video. Cullen was a joy to watch. Good pronunciation by the way.

Yellow and black the Wellington Hurricanes. Exceptional ball handlers since their inception.

One of the greatest of all time from a Saffa.

Number 14 is the beast " Tana Umaga " him & Cullen were the meanest combo two of my favorite Rugby player's 🏉

Awesome to see how stoked you are on him 👍

You have to check out Buck Shelford and what happened to him on the field !!!!it is absolutely insane

A legend of the rugby world