The biggest winners and losers of the year: Springboks go ‘a level above’ the Test pack as Red Roses find ‘new forms of dominance’
Siya Kolisi (left) and Meg Jones (right) lifting trophies in 2025
With the curtain coming down on 2025, Planet Rugby takes a look at the biggest winners and losers across the rugby world.
Winners
Red Roses
Undoubtedly, the big winners from 2025 are the Red Roses, after finding new forms of dominance over the women’s game. John Mitchell’s side took things to a whole new level this year, securing their fourth successive Six Nations Grand Slam – which was also their seventh in the past nine years – while clinching their third World Cup title on home soil. Just to put the cherry on top, they extended their winning run to 33 Tests – a streak which has remained intact since 2022.
The Red Roses’ triumph on the hallowed Twickenham turf back in September also brought them fully into the public spotlight, resulting in a nomination for Team of the Year at the BBC Sports Personality Awards, but it has also hugely boosted the profile of the women’s game and is very much having a drip-down effect into the PWR too.
Both on and off the pitch, the Red Roses have had an unbelievable 2025.
Springboks
Yet again, the Springboks find themselves a level above in the Men’s Test game, to the point where it’s looking ominous for their rivals ahead of the 2027 World Cup. Rassie Erasmus’ side just grew and grew into the year and ended on a run of 12 wins from 14 Tests – an 86% win rate. In that time, they also secured a second successive Rugby Championship title.
Aside from the actual tally of wins, it’s more the manner that gets them onto this list. They were utterly ruthless right across the year, with their blend of Tony-ball attack and sheer brutality in the pack merging together seamlessly. In 2025, the Boks condemned the All Blacks to their heaviest-ever defeat, winning 43-10 in Wellington, while also thumping Wales 73-0, putting 60 on Argentina and Japan and securing famous wins over France and Ireland as well.
It might be two years away, but they are starting to position themselves as the clear favourites for a third World Cup title in a row.
British and Irish Lions
This summer felt big for the British and Irish Lions, given the Covid-affected 2021 tour to South Africa. For the first time in a long while, they headed on tour as heavy favourites to secure a series win, with the Wallabies still a touch hit-and-miss after 2024, meaning a Test series victory was the only true measure of success.
Things started pretty badly, with Argentina stunning the Lions in Dublin before they ventured South, but it quickly got back on track with eight wins in a row – including two series-clinching wins over the Wallabies. It ended on a sour note, both in defeat and a major lightning delay, but on the whole, they did what they came to do.
Series victories are rare things for the Lions, with this one only being the 12th in the famous touring side’s history, and this was even more rare considering it was the first time the Lions had won back-to-back series’ against the same opposition in the post-war era.
England
While the Boks might have taken their game to new heights this season, Steve Borthwick’s England are looking like their main rivals for that 2027 title, if their rapid improvement in 2025 is anything to go by.
England came into the year in a tricky spot, following a hard 2024, but their fortunes have almost flipped entirely. Across the year, England posted a record of 11 wins from 12 Tests, and were the only Tier One outfit to post a better record than the Springboks too (92%). They also secured all 11 wins in succession, while beating the likes of France, the All Blacks, Argentina (three times) and Australia too.
Around that, England also seemed to have found new ways to win, with the ‘Pom Squad’ in particular proving a roaring success. The different selections at fly-half saw them utilise slightly different attacking styles across the autumn, something which the Boks did so well in 2024.
Borthwick’s men will need to kick on from here if they really want to assert themselves as serious World Cup challengers, but the signs are very much there after 2025.
Bordeaux-Begles
After years of threatening the top table of European rugby, Bordeaux have established themselves as a big dog following their Investec Champions Cup triumph.
Bordeaux have had their own hardship with the Champions Cup in recent years, losing at home to Harlequins in 2024 and being beaten by Toulouse in the semi-finals back in 2021 as well, but they finally exercised those demons to go on a major run in the competition. They topped pool two – beating out holders Toulouse in the process – after four bonus-point wins, before knocking out Ulster, Munster and Toulouse in the stages prior to the final, and eventually downing Northampton to get their hands on the trophy.
What’s even more remarkable about that win is it was also the first major honour in the club’s 18-year history. It was so nearly a double, but they tasted defeat in the Top 14 final against Toulouse.
2025 felt like the year Bordeaux finally became a proper heavy-hitter in the European club game.
Leinster
The Irish juggernauts finally ended their trophy drought in 2025, securing their maiden United Rugby Championship (URC) title with a win over the Bulls in the final.
A team their size should not be waiting four years to win silverware, but this title felt like a real weight off the club’s shoulders, with Leinster previously losing three successive Investec Champions Cup finals, while they hadn’t even reached the URC final since the league was formed in 2021/22.
It just felt like a monkey off the club’s back, and avenged some high-profile finals defeats in the process.
Bath
It’s been a long 29 years for Bath, made even longer with eight other teams also winning the title in the years since 1996, but 2025 brought years of hurt to an end with a historic treble. The PREM Cup was the first to be added to the cabinet, as Bath beat Exeter at Sandy Park, an effort which was quickly followed up by the EPCR Challenge Cup as they beat Lyon at the Principality Stadium.
The big one, though, was the PREM. Bath had been so dominant across the season, securing top spot as early as March, but their defeat to Northampton in the 2024 final was still very fresh in the memory. However, they once again exercised some demons and came out victorious at Twickenham.
The new season has also gone pretty well for the Blue, Black and White, with them sitting top of the PREM table at the time of writing and leading the way in Pool Two of the Investec Champions Cup after the opening two rounds.
Zimbabwe
While their near-neighbours, South Africa, might take a lot of the rugby spotlight, Zimbabwe also enjoyed a strong 2025. The Sables booked their place at the 2027 World Cup following their Rugby Africa Cup triumph against Namibia, which sees them return to the big dance for the first time since 1991.
This also marks yet another year of serious progress from the African nation, following an unbeaten 2024 Test season, and now sees them climb from 27 in the World Rankings to 24 as of the last update. A serious step forward from the Sables, and could very well be the start of something big.
Hong Kong China
Another Test minnow to enjoy a strong 2025 was Hong Kong China, who also qualified for their very first World Cup after winning the Asia Rugby Championship title.
That qualification also reflects serious progress by the Asian nation, who avenged their near misses in both 2019 and 2023 in the process. They also remain in the top 25 of the World Rankings, sitting 23rd and with a big gap between themselves and Zimbabwe, but while that is one place lower than last year (where they were 22nd), they boast an improved rankings score and are closing in on the likes of Romania and Belgium too.
Losers
Welsh rugby
2025 was yet another dark year for Welsh rugby, with the game still very much under a cloud across the board. The national team did actually end their losing run, beating Japan in July and November respectively, but that was also marred with almost existential defeats against England and South Africa.
Around that, the proposal to axe one of the four regions has thrown the club game into uncertainty, with the likes of Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake heading over to the PREM as a direct consequence.
2026 will hopefully bring some form of stability to the game in Wales, but what that looks like is still very much an unknown.
Australia
Yet another hit-and-miss 12 months from the Wallabies. There were some really good bits in 2025, with wins over the Lions and Springboks in successive Tests really looking like a turning point, but the year eventually just extinguished itself with a tough November tour in which they lost all four Tests.
You just don’t quite know what to make of Australia at the moment. The impending departure of Joe Schmidt had been looming over them for the full year, which could have had an effect on things, but they were very inconsistent right across the year – both in individual Tests and results.
The transition between Schmidt and incoming Les Kiss feels like a good chance to just take stock of things and reassess, ready for the 2026 Test season, but progress needs to be made heading into their home World Cup come 2027.
Scotland
2025 was by no means awful for Scotland, but it could so easily have been brilliant. The Six Nations really felt like their time to finally deliver on the promise shown in previous years, possibly even mount a title charge, but then they slipped to a fourth-placed finish with just two wins from five. The Lions admittedly took a lot of Scotland players, particularly as mid-tour call-ups, but the summer tour also didn’t really see a notable change in gameplan or approach.
While they did push the All Blacks incredibly close, a stunning comeback from Argentina put the Gregor Townsend administration under a harsh spotlight. It just fuelled the feeling that Scotland haven’t quite been able to get that statement win they are so desperate for.
It could have been so different.
Scott Robertson
The All Blacks head coach job comes with immense pressure anyway, but Scott Robertson is really under the cosh now.
Just this week, reports have emerged of serious frustrations amongst the playing group following another unconvincing year under Razor, which also follows the resignations of senior coaches Leon MacDonald and Jason Holland in previous years.
Results wise, the All Blacks are still doing well, winning 10 of their 13 Tests across the year (77%), but they yet again missed out on the Rugby Championship title and recorded their heaviest-ever defeat in history too.
2026 again gives them a chance to regroup and go again, with the Greatest Rivalry Tour to South Africa a huge opportunity to lay down a marker ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
Ireland
After a decent 2024, Ireland just seems a touch off the pace in 2025. Andy Farrell’s sabbatical at the start of the year potentially threw things out of kilter for the Six Nations, but they didn’t seem the all-conquering side we’d seen in the previous Championships and eventually finished third. The summer tour was a success, with big wins over Georgia and an under-strength Portugal, but upon returning to action in November, they won just two of their four Tests.
Ireland are certainly in a transition, with a number of their core group coming towards the end of their Test careers, but 2026 needs to be the time where that fresh blood is properly deployed and brought into the mix.