The 50 best rugby players of the year, part two: 40-31

Lawrence Nolan
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England number eight Ben Earl and Springboks captain Siya Kolisi.

England number eight Ben Earl and Springboks captain Siya Kolisi.

The second instalment of our countdown of the outstanding players of 2023 is here. Surely it can’t be more controversial than the first, can it? Can it?

We kicked off last week with our 50-41 run-down that included the likes of Maro Itoje, Caelan Doris, Owen Farrell, Duhan van der Merwe and other stars.

Our list is set to culminate on the eve of the new year so without further ado, this is Planet Rugby’s next segment of the world’s best players from this year.

40. Liam Williams

Just a class act at full-back. Had a terrific World Cup featuring not only a full suite of basic skills but also some sublime moments of individual class and skill, even in the heat of the epic match against Fiji. A suitable sign-off from a terrific international career.

39. Garry Ringrose

Probably overshadowed by the contribution of his centre partner at the World Cup, but no less important to Ireland’s epic campaign, while he was instrumental in Leinster’s deep runs into both the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup.

38. Julien Marchand

Sadly, his World Cup was disrupted by injury early in the opener, otherwise he might well have been further up this table. Either way, Marchand is an indisputably world-class hooker, one of those who acts as a surrogate openside at the bottom of rucks as well.

37. Romain Ntamack

The injury asterisk against the position in this series also applies to Ntamack, who managed to make spectators forget he had had a bit of a stinker in the Top 14 Final by clinching it for Toulouse with one of the great individual tries. The World Cup missed him, despite Matthieu Jalibert’s excellence.

36. Kurt-Lee Arendse

The Springboks wing didn’t shine so much at the World Cup, but made several critical contributions to South Africa’s year with some clutch finishes out wide.

35. Waisea Nayacelevu

Fiji’s totemic captain at the World Cup, he left his mark with a couple of searing scores and big hits, but stood out for his ability to stay calm and lead under pressure, as Fiji went to within an ace of the World Cup semi-finals.

34. Handre Pollard

Not a fly-half in the Marcus Smith or Richie Mo’unga mould, but there’s no player you’d want more in a team to listen, understand and implement a game-plan to the letter, not to mention those nerveless kicks from anywhere within 50m.

33. Ben Earl

England have a couple of players with a huge range of natural ball-playing skills far outside the normal remit of their position, and Earl is one. Seemingly permanently about to erupt with whatever emotion he’s experiencing at any given moment, Earl has surely now finally nailed down his starter spot in the white jersey for keeps.

32. Siya Kolisi

Having made it back from a tricky knee injury just in time for the World Cup, it was probably too much to expect Kolisi to hit the outstanding heights of his play from last year, but he made up for it with an exemplary display of leadership from start to finish.

31. Malcolm Marx

Another to see injury perhaps push him further down this list than he might otherwise have been, Marx, along with Marchand, are the peerless kings of being flankers in a hooking jersey. But his physicality was missed in tackles and scrums too, particularly notably against Ireland.

READ MORE: The 50 best rugby players of the year, part three: 30-21

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