The real World XV

It is that time of the year. To do a review and select the team of the year.

It was an arduous task to recap the hundreds of franchise, club, and international matches to find the most impressive players of the year – the entire 2025 season.

This will likely cause some debate, and no doubt venomous bile will be slung my way.

However, I had fun selecting my team and invite your replies!

Jan de Koning’s World XV

15. Ange Capuozzo (Italy)

That fabulous 64th-minute score against the world champion Springboks for Italy in Turin is one of the many great plays he was involved in and eventually won him my vote, ahead of players like Blair Kinghorn (Scotland), Damian Willemse (South Africa), Juan Cruz Mallia (Argentina) and Thomas Ramos (France). Capuozzo is the golden boy of the Italian game.

14. Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa)

He can play on the right or left wing, and he did indeed play with a No.14 (against France) and a No.11 (against Ireland) on his back. The strongest challenges on the right wing came from Frenchman Damian Penaud and Scot Darcy Graham.

13. Jesse Kriel (South Africa)

It was a tough choice, but Kriel’s understated role in the big games (wins over New Zealand, France and Ireland) showed Kriel ticks the boxes Rassie Erasmus demands from his outside centre. His leadership (he started as captain, and he took over the role mid-game at times), along with his amazing workrate, is what sets him apart. He beat off the impressive challenges of Leicester Fainga’anuku (New Zealand), Huw Jones (Scotland), Juan Ignacio Brex (Italy) and Ollie Lawrence (England).

12. Andre Esterhuizen (South Africa)

Most of the hype around the 31-year-old this year has been the much-talked-about hybrid role. Esterhuizen featured in 11 of the Boks’ 15 games this year (including the non-cap BaaBaas feast) and was used as a specialist flank on six occasions. The hybrid scored five Test tries, including his first maul try. However, it was his only Test start at No.12, in the 73-0 whitewash of Wales on November 29, that swayed my choice. He was not just brute force, but also precision, the game’s central figure: scattering red jerseys and orchestrating the relentless Boks’ surge. What may be a controversial choice, he beat off his South African teammate Damian de Allende, as well as Bundee Aki (Ireland), Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland), Tommaso Menoncello (Italy) and Santiago Chocobares (Argentina).

11. Ethan Hooker (South Africa)

The find of the year! He made his debut off the bench against Italy in July and also played on the right wing (twice) and inside centre (once). However, it was his starting role in the Rugby Championship-clinching encounters with New Zealand (43-10 in Wellington), as well as Argentina (67-30 in Durban) and (29-27 in London). Just 22, he has a promising international career ahead of him. Others considered were Springbok teammate Kurt-Lee Arendse, Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France) and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (England).

10. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (South Africa)

Several weeks ago, when I selected a Bok XV to PLAY IN A WORLD CUP FINAL, some ‘pundits’ had a proper meltdown. Understandably, most of them failed to read the brief. So, for the record, this selection is based on form throughout the year and not just on some key games in November. It is not a team to ‘play tomorrow’. It is just the form player this year. The level-headed 23-year-old, who readily admits he has a lot of growing to do, was simply sensational. Other inform flyhalves include Santiago Carreras (Argentina), the sometimes erratic New Zealander Damian McKenzie and Finn Russell (Scotland).

9. Cobus Reinach (South Africa)

When Reinach starts, the Boks play with greater tempo, improving their ruck speed, as well as posing a threat to opposition defences around the fringes. Even at 35, he isn’t showing signs of age. He scored five Test tries in 2025. His closest challengers were Cam Roigard (New Zealand), Alex Mitchell (England) and Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland).

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8. Jasper Wiese (South Africa)

Wiese is among a group of Boks who finished the year with a 100 percent win-record in the Test arena. He missed the start of the international season through suspension, but the powerful No.8 started seven of South Africa’s last eight Tests. It is in those matches where the ‘Kalahari Pain Train’ showed just how important he is to the South African cause with his ball-carrying venom and high workrate on defence. Mickael Guillard (France) and Ben Earl (England) were also up there in the ratings.

7. Ardie Savea (New Zealand)

The 32-year-old Savea seems capable of just about anything – miracle turnovers, dominant tackles, impossible offloads and incredible post-contact leg drives. However, his true value to the All Black cause was epitomised in his 100th Test, against South Africa at Eden Park, when he pulled off a last-minute turnover on his own goal-line to secure the victory. There is a large chasing bunch, including Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa), Josh Van der Flier (Ireland), Henry Pollock (England) and Jac Morgan (Wales).

6. Pablo Matera (Argentina)

All the hype and focus was on young Henry Pollock, but it was a veteran that won me over. The 32-year-old Matera was Man of the Match when Argentina finally beat the All Blacks at home. Of the 29 forwards to hit 15-plus defensive rucks in the Rugby Championship this year, Matera boasted the best ruck effectiveness rate. Others worth noting are Guy Pepper (England), Siya Kolisi (South Africa) and Ryan Baird (Ireland).

5. Ruan Nortjé (South Africa)

In the world of tall timber, it is often the work done in those dark, unseen places that the real value of a lock is measured. Yes, there’s RG Snyman’s majestic offloads, or Eben Etzebeth’s physicality and workrate, but the 27-year-old is quietly working his way up the totem pole. He is already one of the team’s mainstays in the line-outs, while his work with or without the ball (especially on defence) is seeing him starting more regularly. He is followed closely by Fabian Holland (New Zealand), the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year and Tadhg Beirne (Ireland).

4. RG Snyman (South Africa)

Yes, Eben Etzebeth, the most capped player in Springbok history, is an invaluable asset to the national team. And Snyman doesn’t start as often. However, Snyman has redefined what a lock forward can be. His offloading, soft hands and basketball-style spatial awareness give South Africa an extra playmaker in the tight exchanges. Few locks combine his athleticism with such an instinct for broken-field chaos. Injuries continue to blight his career. Challengers include Eben Etzebeth (South Africa) and Maro Itoje (England).

3. Wilco Louw (South Africa)

So destructive has he been this year, that there’s been a renewed outcry to change the scrum laws. Simply put, the crybabies want to depower the scrum and play a version of ‘touch rugby’. Even with double World Cup winners Frans Malherbe and Vincent Koch not available, the Bok scrum is even more powerful. His strongest challenge came from Bok teammate Thomas du Toit (South Africa) and All Black Fletcher Newell.

2. Malcolm Marx (South Africa)

From the heartache of a training ground mishap that knocked him out of the victorious 2023 World Cup campaign to the world’s best player. Marx, 31, was back to his best, scoring five tries on the Test stage and executing some classic breakdown turnovers. Those in an impressive chasing pack include Julian Montoya (Argentina), Samisoni Taukei’aho and Codie Taylor (both New Zealand), Luke Cowan-Dickie (England) and Dan Sheehan (Ireland).

1. Ox Nche (South Africa)

A horrific knee injury in the tour opener against Japan ruled him out of the rest of the unbeaten march, but by then he had already done enough to earn a nomination for World Player of the Year, the first prop to earn that honour. His set-piece prowess is also one of the reasons those crybabies want to change the laws. Tamaiti Williams (New Zealand) and Ellis Genge (England) were also impressive.

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