Following confirmation of the 2025 World Rugby Dream Team, here is our take on the key winners and losers from the announcement.
Winners
Thomas du Toit
He’s had to be patient for his chance in this Springboks side, mainly due to the wealth of talent in the front-row rather than his own shortcomings, but he has simply exploded since being given a long-term stint in the starting side.
Du Toit has quickly proven himself as one of the best scrummagers in the world game, showcased in emphatic fashion last weekend in Dublin no less, and he has backed that up with some stellar work in the loose too.
It’s a pick that might not have been obvious upon first thought, but it’s incredibly tough to argue with it.
Maro Itoje
His first inclusion in the World Rugby Dream Team since 2021 caps off what has been a remarkable year for the England and British and Irish Lions captain. He had always been seen as a future England skipper, to the point where it almost hung over him like a raincloud, but he has taken his game to new heights since being given the role and has helped his side turn a corner.
Itoje was also totemic across the Lions tour, too, steering them to a series victory for the first time since 2013, a status which was reinforced following their third Test defeat to the Wallabies when he was absent.
The England man was always seen as one of the world’s best forwards, but 2025 has shown he is among the elite leaders in the Test game.
Harry Wilson
Possibly the surprise pick of the bunch, but Wilson quietly had a great Test season in 2025 despite the Wallabies’ mixed form.
His performances were the key behind their improvements during the Lions series, capping it off with a win in Test three, and he again stepped up to the plate in their Rugby Championship wins against the Springboks and Argentina, crucially making the brave call to go for the try in the final act of their Townsville victory over Los Pumas.
Wilson has also been one of the more consistent number eights in the Test year, which likely saw him edge out the likes of Jasper Wiese into this side.
Cam Roigard
Roigard has threatened to break into the conversation for a good while, but his inclusion in this side shows he is now very much among the best in the world.
The number nine shirt has been dominated by Antoine Dupont in the past few years, while Jamison Gibson-Park usurped the Frenchman in 2024, but Roigard now leads the way.
He had his fair share of injury issues in his early career, and even missed the bulk of this year’s Rugby Championship as well, but in his seven 2025 Test appearances, he has been a real attacking bright spark for the All Blacks in a hit-and-miss year by their ridiculous standards.
What’s even more worrying for other teams is he has a lot of his best rugby ahead of him.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Potentially unlucky to miss out on a nomination for World Player of the Year, but his inclusion in the Dream Team is just reward for an astonishing Test season for the Springboks.
The 23-year-old was dipped in and out of the team last year, with Rassie Erasmus swapping his three fly-halves around to suit a particular style or Test, but this year he has made that number 10 shirt his own.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu just thrives in the ‘Tony-ball’ attacking shape, which allows him to offer that dual-threat of playmaking and running. This in turn gives him that freedom to express his game and that has seen him grow in confidence right across the year, capping off with an utterly sensational display against France in arguably their biggest Test of the year.
His rise has been meteoric, but this is the cherry on top.
2024 returners
World Player of the Year Malcolm Marx, nominees Ox Nche and Pieter-Steph du Toit, Lions Player of the Series Tadhg Beirne, Boks hero Cheslin Kolbe and All Blacks ace Will Jordan all return to the Dream Team for a second consecutive year, which is something in itself.
The Test game is becoming increasingly populated with elite talent, but these six are certainly in the world-class bracket. The three Player of the Year nominees all would have made fine choices for the gong, while Beirne has also been improving with each Test this year for both Ireland and the Lions.
Kolbe and Jordan have also again shown just why they are their respective teams’ key attacking weapons in broken field too.
Getting into this side once is hard enough, but to get in twice in two years is quite some doing.
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Losers
Los Pumas back-row
Both as a unit and as individuals, Argentina’s back-row had an unbelievable 2025 Test season, so to not see any of them included in this side is a touch surprising. Two-time Dream Team man Pablo Matera has again shown himself to be one of the very best in the world, even when deployed from the bench as part of Los Bomberos (patent pending), while Juan Martin Gonzalez and Marcos Kremer have also been consistently brilliant across the year too.
The fact that they often rotate around one another in Tests could actually be their downfall in this case, but they also did face some serious competition from the rest of the back-row contingent, too.
Take nothing away from this group, though; they are all exceptional players.
Ardie Savea
A glaring omission from the Dream Team but again, his chopping and changing of positions has probably seen him miss out. The totemic back-rower has often swapped between the flanks and number eight this year, and while he has been simply excellent in both positions, the lack of consistent positioning has possibly allowed the other options to leapfrog him into a specific position.
It’s a very harsh omission, though, given his work for the All Blacks this year. His performance against the Springboks at Eden Park was potentially a career-defining display, and he backed that up with some seriously strong outings against France and Scotland too.
Just unlucky.
Fabian Holland
Fresh from winning World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year, you could easily have made a case for Holland to feature in the XV but alas, he misses out.
Like many on this list, it’s probably purely based on the competition around him, with Itoje and Beirne both enjoying stellar years themselves, but it’s a testament to his form and quality that he is already in the mix for the Dream Team after his first proper taste in the Test arena.
There is no doubt he will be in this selection at some point in his career.
France
Fabien Galthie’s men have seen just one of their team included in the Dream Team this year, potentially paying the price for their summer tour rotation.
If France had kept their Six Nations squad together for that tour of New Zealand, it could have been a whole different story. They were looking ominous during the spring, blowing teams away with a combination of power and pizzazz, and while their summer trip might do them good in the future, it saw them slip to three defeats and lose some momentum heading into the Autumn Nations Series.
I know this is ‘ifs, buts, and maybes’ and we need to deal in absolutes, but had France opted to run the same side that lifted the Six Nations title, they might have claimed a famous series victory away from home against the All Blacks and possibly had carried that on into the November series. It’s hypothetical, but a very possible scenario.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey was a worthy inclusion, but on Six Nations form, Thomas Ramos, Gregory Alldritt and Damian Penaud could easily have joined the list as well.