Every year since 2001, World Rugby has unveiled its winner of the Men\u2019s Player of the Year.<\/p>\n
Ireland\u2019s Keith Wood was the first recipient of the illustrious honour, but since then, it has been dominated by New Zealand.<\/p>\n
The All Blacks have produced 31 nominees over the years with a New Zealander claiming the gong on 11 occasions, most recently by Ardie Savea in 2023.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the history of the nominees and winners.<\/p>\n
History of winners<\/p>\n
Dan Carter was the first All Black<\/a> to claim the accolade in 2005 and would do so again in 2012 and 2015, taking the honour three out of the five times he was nominated.<\/p>\n Carter\u2019s teammate and captain, Richie McCaw, became the first player to win the award on more than one occasion in 2009 after picking up the gong for the first time three years prior. He would make it a hat-trick of awards the following year, also becoming the first player to win it back-to-back. The 2011 and 2015 World Cup-winning skipper also holds the record for the most nominations, failing to win the award on five occasions, along with his three victories.<\/p>\n Former France scrum-half Fabien Galthie was the second player to be crowned the best player in the world in 2002. He is one of 10 French players to be nominated and was the first of three to win the accolade, with Thierry Dusautoir becoming the second in 2011 and Antoine Dupont the third in 2021.<\/p>\n In 2003, Jonny Wilkinson guided England to Rugby World Cup glory and was duly named as the Player of the Year, becoming the first English player to win the award. To this day, he is still the only England player to be named World Rugby<\/a> Player of the Year despite 13 nominations.<\/p>\n The following year, Schalk Burger became the Springboks<\/a>\u2019 first winner of the award, with South Africa boasting the second most nominations (25) in the award\u2019s history. Bryan Habana (2007) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (2019) followed in his footsteps in the years that South Africa won the Rugby World Cup. Du Toit became the first Bok to win the gong twice, clinching it for a second time in 2024.<\/p>\n World Rugby Awards winners and losers: All Blacks and Lions snubbed, \u2018justice for props\u2019, Springboks domination and \u2018farcical decision\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n After Habana in 2007, Shane Williams became the first Wales player to be crowned the Player of the Year, beating Sergio Parisse, Carter, Mike Blair and Ryan Jones to the accolade. No other Welshman has claimed the accolade since.<\/p>\n In 2013, Kieran Read became the third All Black to win the award. His accolade came after Carter secured the tag a year earlier, which kick-started a period of New Zealand dominance between 2012 and 2017.<\/p>\n After Read, it was Brodie Retallick who won in 2014 and Carter in 2015 before Beauden Barrett went back-to-back in 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n Johnny Sexton ended New Zealand\u2019s dominance in 2018 as he became the second Irishman to win the award. Due to the global pandemic in 2020, World Rugby opted not to award anyone the Player of the Year, but when it returned in 2021, Dupont would become the third Frenchman.<\/p>\n After Dupont, Josh van der Flier became the third Irishman to be crowned the World Player of the Year. In 2023, Savea became the 11th All Black to win the accolade despite New Zealand finishing as runners-up in the World Cup.<\/p>\n Du Toit won the award for the second time 2024 after helping South Africa win their first Rugby Championship since 2019 and go unbeaten in November for the first time since 2013. He joined Barrett, Carter and McCaw in being the only players to win the World Rugby Player of the Year Award on more than one occasion.<\/p>\n The Bok flanker has been nominated for the award again in 2025 along with teammates Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx as well as France\u2019s Louis Bielle-Biarrey.<\/p>\n Nche becomes the first-ever prop to be nominated for the award.<\/p>\n