Top 100 Men's Players: All Black wizard ranked higher than Bok maestro
SPOTLIGHT: A couple of key Springbok backline players have been included in RugbyPass’ latest batch of their Top 100 men’s players in 2025.
Utility back Damian Willemse and inside centre Damian de Allende are ranked closely together in the section of players listed between 40 and 21.
De Allende comes in at No.32 after recording a 73% gainline success rate for South Africa in 2025, the best rate of any centre from a Tier One nation (min. 50 carries).
Willemse, a maestro on the field, especially in that fullback role, is two places ahead of De Allende at No.30. In South Africa’s record 43-10 win over the All Blacks in Wellington in September, Willemse was top for carries (14), second for metres carried (97), and joint-second for defenders beaten (6), while also scoring a try in a brilliant individual display.
Meanwhile, All Black star Damian McKenzie, who has become New Zealand’s top impact player, finishes two places ahead of Willemse at No.28
Against Scotland in November, McKenzie was named Man of the Match despite only being on the field for 36 minutes, such was the impact of his wizardry on the attack.
See the ranking from 40 to 21 below:
* You can now view the list and the explanations, as Rugbypass gradually releases more players: Top 100 Men’s Rugby Players 2025.
40 – Tupou Vaa’i
39 – Ollie Lawrence
38 – Tom Wright
37 – Ben Earl
36 – Jack Willis
35 – Huw Jones
34 – Fraser McReight
33 – Joe McCarthy
32 – Damian de Allende
31 – Santiago Chocobares
30 – Damian Willemse
29 – Len Ikitau
28 – Damian McKenzie
27 – Tom Curry
26 – Thomas Ramos
25 – Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
24 – Sione Tuipulotu
23 – Will Skelton
22 – Wallace Sititi
21 – Cam Roigard
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