Ranked: The 50 best players from the 2025 Six Nations as France star claims top spot
Our picks for the 50 best players in the Six Nations.
Following the conclusion of the 2025 Six Nations, we have ranked the 50 best players based on their performances in the Championship.
50-40: ‘World-class’ Ireland back and the storming Frenchman
50 Bundee Aki (Ireland): Iconic, battered, bruised but always smiling. Bundee struggled to make the metres he did at the World Cup but was always a go-forward man for Ireland. Good, but not his usual great.
49 Theo Attisogbe (France): It seemed harsh to drop the youngster after scoring three tries. Yet another rising star that just looks class at the highest level and his defence and aerial work are far better than the man who replaced him, Damian Penaud.
48 Josh van der Flier (Ireland): Like many of his teammates, expectations are so high for JVDF but he wasn’t quite in the league of the English and French flanks – more on them later – despite some great moments. Relentless in defence, muted in attack.
47 Rory Darge (Scotland): Was one of the Scots’ lynchpins and did so many things right without ever quite influencing a match at the level of others. Quietly impressive rather than eye-catching.
46 Oscar Jegou (France): There’s a bit of precocity about this youngster. He’s got that bad-boy element about his persona, and the hammering hits he put in during the tournament were outstanding, particularly when playing at centre v Ireland. He’s not the traditional big French flank and there’s a little bit of a young Richard Hill about him. One to watch.
45 Andrew Porter (Ireland): Given the competition at loosehead in our list, 45 seems low for one of Ireland’s glue players, but Porter worked his formidable backside off in every game he played.
44 Mickael Guillard (France): A statement season by the Lyon lock who filled in for Emmanuel Meafou brilliantly. He is a real baller, has serious athleticism with his breakdown work setting him apart. He grabbed three turnovers in defence in an outstanding first campaign.
43 James Lowe (Ireland): When he was missing, Ireland lost so much in terms of their kicking and exit game. A world-class player who simply didn’t quite have the tournament many expected, but a sure-fire Lion in Australia.
42 Jamie George (England): Posted 100% success rate from his 26 lineout throws and added serious quality and leadership in the backend of Tests. Did not let the fact that he was relieved of the captaincy and later picked up an injury impact his performances, producing a performance fitting of a Test centurion against Italy.
41 Paul Boudehent (France): Oustanding Championship. Announced his recall with a storming performance versus Wales and continued to add value every time he played. Brilliant on the front foot, crunching in first-up tackles and not scared of finding the try line. Needs to up his work-rate at ruck time but when you have Gregory Alldritt and Francois Cros around you offering a carrying counterpoint is no bad thing.
40 Garry Ringrose (Ireland): A red card marred his tournament, but when fit, the big man was a Rolls-Royce player. Inconsistent but flashes of brilliance best sums up his tournament and he’ll want to up his performances moving forward.
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39-30: England’s powerhouse prop and Scotland’s best forward
39 Ange Capuozzo (Italy): At times, he looked as if he was wearing Jason Robinson’s legs, such was his acceleration and footwork. Deadly in space, as many found out, he grabbed two tries to cement his place in our list.
38 Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland): At times, unstoppable. At others, unable to stop anything coming his way. In other words, brilliant in attack, but some real howlers in defence – but on balance, his points of differentiation created so much for Scotland.
37 Taulupe Faletau (Wales): This tank of a man simply rolled back the years as he hit 50 carries for 354m, second only to Ben Earl as a forward. He was a glue player for Wales, holding the back-row together whilst the rest of the team crumbled around him. A third Lions tour? We’d take him.
36 Marcus Smith (England): On the one hand, he was absolutely magnificent, once again shining as England’s best-attacking option and leading the way for both metres and points for his side, but you can’t ignore how he has been shifted out of the spotlight for Fin Smith at fly-half. He does seem to be finding his feet at full-back and is having the same sort of flashes that we’ve come to expect from him, but he would have wanted to remain as the number one number 10.
35 Jean-Baptiste Gros (France): Stepped out of Cyril Baille’s shadow to produce a statement Championship. The Toulon giant has had his injury issues and to see him emerge as a top-quality scrummager and a key man in early-phase carries was great to see. He’s nailed down the starting shirt in a position where France are stacked.
34 Ellis Genge (England): Alongside Stuart, the Bristol star helped turn the scrum into a serious weapon for England, peaking against Wales. Superb throughout the Championship and is now surely a front-runner to start against the Wallabies. As always, he made himself readily available for work around the park, but his scrummaging was by far the best we’ve seen from him in an England shirt.
33 Ollie Chessum (England): An incredibly dependable lineout option and never seemed to stop working for his side. A shame to see him pick another knock at the end of the Six Nations considering his injury struggles this season but he showed his quality.
32 Hugo Keenan (Ireland): The full-back was absolutely heroic in the mayhem of the match against France and he ran 200m in the four games he played. However, a tackle completion of less than 70% demonstrates he’s not quite at his sharpest in field defence, despite his surety under the high ball.
31 Danilo Fischetti (Italy): The pocket-sized prop was an unsung star of the Championship – and as effective as any other. His work rate is remarkable – 53 tackles, 28 carries and a couple of jackal steals underline a brilliant season for the Benetton loosehead.
30 Jamie Ritchie (Scotland): Scotland’s best forward by a country mile. Back to his very best, just in time for Lions selection. Seven turnovers, 16 lineout wins and 26 carries demonstrate his worth on both sides of the ball.
29-20: Brexoncello and Ireland’s skipper
29 Tom Jordan (Scotland): The versatile back was a revelation filling in for the injured Sione Tuipulotu. Two tries and a defensive rock at 12, he also took over at 10 at times. A high-quality season from a very talented player.
28 Tadhg Beirne (Ireland): Such a great rugby brain and capable of massive moments, the hybrid lock-cum-flank spent most of the tournament in the grunt room locking the Irish scrum, but he contributed hugely in so many ways.
27 Romain Ntamack (France): Would have been higher on our list but for his dismissal against Wales after a lazy tackle attempt. Ntamack’s ability to keep France attacking in straight lines is absolutely key and he rose to the occasion brilliantly when Antoine Dupont was unavailable.
26 Finn Russell (Scotland): Moments of genuine Finn, moments of mediocrity summed up a frustrating season for the brilliant outside half. A bit like Ireland captain Caelan Doris, he suffers from setting himself incredible standards but this was a season when he failed to get the real consistency into his game that we expect from him, but he ended on a high giving France the scare of their life in the final match.
25 Will Stuart (England): It seems weird to talk about a player with 50 caps as having their true breakthrough campaign, but this was Stuart’s Six Nations. He dazzled us with his dancing feet around the loose, but backed that up with some truly frightening scrummaging, showcasing his astronomic improvements in this area.
24 Fin Smith (England): The Northampton Saints ace had a lot of pressure on him coming into the starting XV, but he simply excelled in this role. Smith not only showed that he can get England over the line in clutch situations, nailing two winning kicks against France and Scotland, but he also got them playing the sort of style Steve Borthwick is after. He looked to play wide and fast, but yet also maintained a sense of composure and calmness. It looks like this shirt is his moving forward, and he might have even played his way into the British and Irish Lions touring squad.
23 Darcy Graham (Scotland): The flying Scotsman eclipsed other more established wings in his own team as he delivered a really memorable tournament. Lethal coming into the centres off his wing, he grabbed two tries but created just as many in a thrilling and magnificent tournament.
22 Juan Ignacio Brex (Italy): We had to put Brexoncello together given they’re inseparable! Nacho Brex found himself the Azzurri skipper and once again showed what a brilliant centre he is, leading Italy’s creation and visioning. Like Tommaso Menoncello, two tries capped off a memorable season for one of the most likable men in the sport.
21 Tommaso Menoncello (Italy): One-half of the best centre partnership in the tournament. He’s the finisher of the pair and what a finisher he is. 328m carried and two tries rounded off a very impressive year for big Tommy.
20 Caelan Doris (Ireland): By Doris’ massive standards, he was slightly off the boil in this year’s tournament, but it says all about him that he still finishes in the top 20 without hitting his own standards. It’s between him and Maro Itoje for the Lions leadership, but word on the street is that Maro has just edged ahead of him, which might just relieve him of the pressure of captaincy in his first series.
19-11: Lions starters
19 Emmanuel Meafou (France): Impact personified. The bench role suits him perfectly and he made some telling carries when needed. The Toulouse man is a powerhouse in the pack.
18 Yoram Moefana (France): From fringe to fixed in term of selections, another player who enjoyed a breakout turnover as he finally took his Top 14 form into the Test arena. His defensive output is the one minor niggle as 13 tackles missed is still a concern, despite 54 made being second only to the 70 of Cros. He played every minute of the competition and made a whopping 185m from 46 carries, grabbing two crucial tries versus Scotland.
17 Jac Morgan (Wales): It’s incredibly hard to make sense of Morgan’s Six Nations season. He topped the tackle count with 88 but surprisingly didn’t make a breakdown steal in his 58 defensive ruck arrivals. He will surely feature for the Lions in Australia but there’s massive competition for the seven and six jersey.
16 Gregory Alldritt (France): The stand-in captain following Dupont’s injury, Alldritt has a huge workload club and country. He is being carefully managed these days and Fabien Galthie benefitted hugely from it as the world-class loose forward is fast becoming arguably France’s greatest-ever number eight.
15 Thomas Ramos (France): Mad as a fishcake with ball in hand, metronomic with ball off boot. Dominated the points scoring with 71, led France from 10 against Italy and once again underlined that he’s already a great of French rugby.
14 Blair Kinghorn (Scotland): His sojourn to the world’s best club, Toulouse, has seen him move from international promise to truly world-class and there’s little doubt he’ll be a Lions starter. A massive influence on the Scottish attack, he ran for 580m off a whopping 86 carries, the leading carrier, and grabbed a couple of tries.
13 Thibaud Flament (France): If Eben Etzebeth is the undisputed heavyweight champion of second-rows, Flament is the nearest challenger and the pair would undoubtedly lock the World XV versus Mars. Didn’t lose a line out all year, supremely mobile and recorded 89% in his defensive effort.
12 Tommy Freeman (England): The only English nominee for Player of the Championship, Freeman had a brilliant campaign. After a sticky autumn, he seemed a completely refreshed player on both sides of the ball and was clearly playing with confidence. Despite picking up an injury, he also impressed when deployed at centre. His five tries in five outings also speak for itself.
11 Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland): He’s just reaching the autumn of an incredible Test career, but he’s nailed-on starting nine for the Lions in Australia. He changed the game against England and was Ireland’s spark to ignite their attack every time they needed inspiration. There’s some great nines in France, but there’s also a baller of a scrum half in Ireland too.
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The top 10
10 Ben Curry (England): One word to describe Ben Curry this Six Nations would be relentless – he was just absolutely relentless in every aspect of his game. Be that carrying, defence or in the breakdown, he was just brilliant throughout the Championship and proved exactly why he should be in this England side for a long time.
9 Ben Earl (England): With Willis taking a lot of the load in the tight, Earl was able to have those sensational flourishes he’s capable of and looked back to his very best as a result. Whether it was at 7, 8 or even 12, the Saracens ace was electric ball-in-hand and consistently found himself charging through space – which is where he shines. He also found himself right at the heart of England’s breakdown transformation. Looked very Lions-y.
8 Maxime Lucu (France): Out of the shadows and into the spotlight sums up the Bordeaux ace, such was his impact on Round Four and Five of the tournament. France have a queue of world-class nines, but Lucu leads that pack behind Dupont. His kicking from the base was an integral part of France’s exit and his ability to offer string passes around the contact area sets him apart.
7 Huw Jones (Scotland): Sensational at his best, solid and sure at his very worst. A magnificent running 13 and one of the best centres on the planet at the moment. 455m carried tells it all and he finished fourth in tries scored and metres made. A remarkable tournament which will see him as the Lions Test starter at 13.
6 François Cros (France): Absolutely world-class in every aspect. A massive ruck presence, a relentless defender, making key carries when they were needed, important turnovers when France were threatened and provided a huge amount of lineout ball. He was top of the most tackles in the tournament for Les Bleus and broke the tournament record for attacking ruck wins with 109. France’s best forward- or, as they say in Toulouse, Le ciment de la France.
5 Maro Itoje (England): Giving him the captaincy just took him to new heights we didn’t even think possible, and now he’s the front-runner for the Lions gig as a result. Around the park, he set the standards for those around him with some crucial interventions, but on top of that, he seemed to know exactly what to do at the right time to get his side over the line. A remarkable campaign from an already remarkable player.
4 Dan Sheehan (Ireland): His five tournament tries takes his tally up to 13 for the Six Nations. Factor in he’s only played 32 Tests and he’s stripped two records off France’s Charles Ollivon, grabbing the best try-per-game ratio in the history of Test rugby (a try every 2.2 matches) and the most by a forward in the tournament’s history. What a return to form!
3 Tom Curry (England): He’s already shown himself as the ultimate Test-match beast, but he was on a different level this Six Nations. Curry just seemed to be in every breakdown, either winning a turnover or making life hell for the opposition scrum-half, and he backed that up with some fine tackling too.
2 Antoine Dupont (France): Injury ruined his season, but against Wales, Italy and part of Ireland he was magnificent. Some might raise an eyebrow on his ranking, but when fit, he was sensational. This is his French team; he’s the heartbeat, the leader, the mastermind and they’d not be where they are without him.
1 Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France): He simply can’t stop scoring, having scored in every match since December for both club and country. The brilliant Bordeaux back made a mockery of seasoned Test internationals. Best winger in the world? We think so. He is just 21 years old, it’s mad to think that he could still get better.
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