Adam Ashley-Cooper (when he plays fullback), Matt burke and Chris Latham were all solid defensive players, and I'm not sure if he was wing or fullback, but Josh Lewsey sure as hell knew how to tackle. I remember him completely poleaxing Mat Rogers in one game and Gavin Hastings was also a fantastic all round full back. Of the recent AB fullbacks, Christian Cullen was the best but his defence wan't in the same league as Burke or Latham's. They're the guys I know, sadly my knowledge of NH rugby isn't as strong as it could be.
JPR
J.P.R.Williams (Wales) was a pretty rugged full back in his day.
It's certainly not leigh halfpenny thats for sure. It's gotta be a player of relative size. In my opinion the current best is probably Zane Kirchner, for both his tackling and defensive kicking, plus he's a brute going forward. The best ever is another question, JPR Williams is a shout although Chris Latham liked to put a good hit in too.
It doesn't matter which position you play, the tackle technique is what is important. Some of the best defensive players in the world currently are Conrad Smith of New Zealand, and Anthony Faainga of the Wallabies. They both play outside center, coincidentally.
Don't know about ever, but in my era, probably one of the Wallaby 15s (Burke or Adam Ashley-Cooper), or possibly the Boks' Percy Montgomery. As far as All Black fullbacks go, we have had a lot of great attacking fullbacks, but mostly their defence is just good, not great. I would probably pick Leon Macdonald or Mils Muliaina out of recent years, but would still rate the Wallabies mentioned higher in defence.
Right now I would say Israel Dagg (All Blacks) or our very own Leigh Halfpenny (Wales).
