Social media stats from the Rugby World Cup reveal the most popular player and it’s not even close

The dust is beginning to settle in France as the Rugby World Cup has come and gone, with the Springboks claiming an unprecedented fourth title as they became the second team to win back-to-back trophies.

The 2023 edition will be well remembered as a fantastic tournament and the most advanced from a digital and online standpoint, allowing fascinating insight into the popularity of the game with access to more data than ever before.

Olytico released a brilliant breakdown of just that and Planet Rugby takes a closer look at the numbers at hand.

Most popular player

As one would have expected, the Rugby World Cup began with France skipper and talisman Antoine Dupont taking an early lead as the most mentioned player of the tournament by quite a distance.

This would remain the case until September 13 when Springboks fly-half Manie Libbok drew pretty much level with the Frenchman after his no-look cross-kick against Scotland. Debate also began around his goal-kicking. Throughout September the top 10 consisted of eight South Africans alongside Dupont and Johnny Sexton.

Dupont shot into a clear lead after his facial injury against Namibia as fans speculated whether he would return in time for the quarter-finals. This would continue through most of October as well as Sexton was the only other non-South African in the top 10 still. The eight Springboks would change between Cheslin Kolbe and Siya Kolisi amongst others in second.

That was until the final where only one man stood alone. Kolisi went from some distance behind Dupont to transcending into a different stratosphere during and after the final where he showed his class on and off the pitch. The great skipper would end with almost 150,000 mentions on his own.

With this year’s @RugbyWorldCup generating over 8 million mentions on social media, Olytico took a look at some of the stats 📊

As the @Springboks retained their title, we analysed which player generated the most conversation overall throughout the tournament 🏉🏆

🧵 (1/6) pic.twitter.com/Q8iKhIQ9U1

— Olytico (@Olytico) October 31, 2023

Most popular team

Olytico also collected data on the most popular teams (again by the number of mentions) and it was no surprise to see the Springboks reach nearly 1.2 million mentions and close on 500,000 more than second-best France.

The Springboks were constantly in the headlines whether they were being praised or criticised, as there was always a storyline coming out of the champions.

Hosts France were in second, only just, but as expected with all eyes on Les Bleus who were expected to go deep in the tournament.

Right behind them was finalists New Zealand, who went about the pool stage quietly before exploding in the knockouts. The Red Rose of England was the fourth most discussed team as Steve Borthwick’s men exceeded expectations, very nearly making the final.

Ireland were next but failed to break their quarter-final curse, moving attention away from them in the latter stages. Los Pumas were right on the Irish tail with Wales next on the list.

Overperforming Fiji slotted in at eighth on the chart thanks to a stellar campaign where they claimed a memorable win over ninth-placed Australia – a team that only made headlines for the wrong reason. Scotland round out the top 10.

When it came to the top 10 most discussed teams, it’s no surprise that reigning champs the @Springboks topped the table, generating more than a million mentions of the team throughout the tournament 🇿🇦🏆 (2/6) pic.twitter.com/djBPUu8OyO

— Olytico (@Olytico) October 31, 2023

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