The official Planet Rugby Top 50 men’s players of 2025 has reached its climax. In the run-up to the new year, we’ve revealed the stars who have made it into our list.
After naming our 20-11 two days ago, let’s see who has made our final section.
Here’s 10-1:
10. Will Jordan (New Zealand, full-back/wing)
2025 season: Jordan’s razor-sharp finishing was a highlight for the All Blacks in 2025, snagging a Dream Team full-back berth with lethal tries in the Rugby Championship and end-of-year wins, complemented by Crusaders domestic sparkle. Clinical opportunism personified.
Performance highlight: Jordan scored a lovely try against the Springboks at Eden Park en route to their impressive victory. He finished the Rugby Championship with a total of 265 running metres.
9. Eben Etzebeth (South Africa, lock)
2025 season: Etzebeth was the towering enforcer anchoring South Africa‘s pack through 2025’s triumphs, his physicality and lineout dominance crucial in the Rugby Championship win and autumn routs, whilst leading the Sharks strongly throughout. A grizzly in green and gold.
Performance highlight: In Autumn Nations Series matches, Etzebeth delivered high tackle completion and lineout work in dominant pack displays.
8. Thomas Ramos (France, full-back)
2025 season: Ramos was France’s cool-headed guide in 2025, his pinpoint boot and attacking spark key to the Six Nations title win whilst steadying Toulouse in Europe. Despite some autumn bumps, his consistency from the tee and in open play kept Les Bleus competitive. Reliable as ever when the pressure was on.
Performance highlight: Across the Six Nations, Ramos topped the scoring chart with 71 points from kicks, including conversions in key victories.
7. Antoine Dupont (France, scrum-half)
2025 season: Dupont’s 2025 was a story of grit after a cruel ACL tear in March sidelined him for the Six Nations triumph and most of the club season. Even limited, his magic glimpses reminded everyone why he’s rugby’s ultimate playmaker – comeback complete, legend intact, and there’s little doubt he’d top this list if he’d have been fully fit.
Performance highlight: In his comeback match for Toulouse, Dupont assisted two tries and sniped for 55 metres. A sparkling return.
6. Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France, wing)
2025 season: Bielle-Biarrey was France’s lightning bolt in 2025, his blistering pace scorching defences to help Les Bleus claim the Six Nations title – where he was named Player of the Championship – and Bordeaux-Begles to Investec Champions Cup glory. A Dream Team wing, his try-scoring exploits kept France buzzing even in a mixed autumn. Defenders were left chasing shadows all year.
Performance highlight: In the Six Nations decider against Scotland, Bielle-Biarrey scored, beat eight defenders and racked up 81 metres in a dazzling display.
5. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (South Africa, fly-half)
2025 season: Feinberg-Mngomezulu burst into superstardom in 2025, his silky vision and composure directing South Africa’s Rugby Championship retention and autumn dominance, earning a Dream Team spot at 10 and topping the RugbyPass Top 100 whilst dazzling for the Stormers. The breakout fly-half of the year, pulling strings like a veteran.
Performance highlight: In the Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in Durban, Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored a hat-trick and assisted one, contributing to the points haul with a record 37 from his boot, hands and mind.
4. Ox Nché (South Africa, prop)
2025 season: Nché turned scrums into his personal demolition zone in 2025, his destructive power making history as the first prop ever nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year while propelling the Springboks to Rugby Championship glory and an autumn clean sweep. A Dream Team front-row staple, he obliterated opposition packs and gave the Sharks a rock-solid base all year – opposition props probably still have nightmares.
Performance highlight: In the Rugby Championship decider against Argentina at Twickenham, Nché won four scrum penalties and powered through eight carries in a front-row rampage.
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3. Malcolm Marx (South Africa, hooker)
2025 season: Marx was an absolute colossus in 2025, the heartbeat of South Africa’s dominant pack as they retained the Rugby Championship and romped unbeaten through the autumn, capped by that absurd 73-0 thrashing of Wales. Crowned World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year – the first hooker in decades – he anchored scrums, nailed lineouts and popped up with crucial tries. Humble off the field, terrifying on it.
Performance highlight: In the Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in Durban, Marx scored a try, hit 16 lineouts and smashed in seven tackles whilst obliterating the Pumas scrum.
2. Ardie Savea (New Zealand, number eight/flanker)
2025 season: Savea was the All Blacks’ driving force through a challenging 2025, his explosive carries and miracle offloads dragging them to second in the Rugby Championship and gritty Autumn Nations Series wins over Scotland and Italy. A perennial powerhouse with impossible strength, he marked his 100th Test in style whilst leading Moana Pasifika to their best Super Rugby campaign yet – the kind of player who makes the impossible look routine.
Performance highlight: In his milestone 100th Test against South Africa at Eden Park, Savea stormed forward 14 times for 102 metres and delivered a last-gasp turnover on his own line to snatch victory.
1. Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa, flanker/lock)
2025 season: The indomitable Du Toit was the Springboks’ unstoppable force in 2025, his tireless tackling and breakdown wizardry powering South Africa to back-to-back Rugby Championship titles and a flawless Autumn Nations Series sweep, including a dominant 73-0 demolition of Wales. A World Rugby Dream Team regular at blindside and nominee for Player of the Year, he was everywhere – turning games with relentless energy and those trademark turnovers that leave opponents in despair.
Performance highlight: In the tense Rugby Championship decider against Argentina at Twickenham, Du Toit had a hand in two crucial second-half tries, crunched 11 tackles and poached a turnover in a match-winning shift.
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