Top 100 Men's Players: Bok duo make first cut
SPOTLIGHT: RugbyPass released the first batch of their Top 100 men’s players in 2025, and it features two Springboks.
Centre Andre Esterhuizen and prop Wilco Louw have fallen into the group ranked 81 to 100.
South African-born Scotland international Duhan van der Merwe also makes the first list.
Esterhuizen is ranked No.97 after featuring in 11 of the Boks’ 15 games this season and was used as a specialist flank on six occasions.
Overall, the hybrid player scored five Test tries.
Louw is ranked No.88. South Africa won a penalty at 19 scrums this year when Louw was in the front row – no Tier One prop was involved in as many penalty-winning scrums.
Louw also featured in more Tests for the Boks than any other player in 2025, starting four and playing a further nine off the bench as an integral member of the ‘Bomb Squad’.
Meanwhile, Van der Merwe comes in at No.100. He holds three of the top four totals for defenders beaten in a Six Nations campaign, including 28 this year (also 35 in 2023 and 31 in 2021).
See the ranking from 100 to 81 below:
* You can now view the list and the explanations, as Rugbypass gradually releases more players: Top 100 Men’s Rugby Players 2025.
100 – Duhan van der Merwe
99 – Tadhg Furlong
98 – Ange Capuozzo
97 – Andre Esterhuizen
96 – Mack Hansen
95 – Tamaiti Williams
94 – Charles Ollivon
93 – Leicester Fainga’anuku
92 – Luke Cowan-Dickie
91 – Max Jorgensen
90 – Zander Fagerson
89 – Jiuta Wainiqolo
88 – Wilco Louw
87 – Tomos Williams
86 – Romain Ntamack
85 – Pablo Matera
84 – Alex Mitchell
83 – Davit Niniashvili
82 – Fletcher Newell
81 – Julien Marchand
