IRB Player Of The Year
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The World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year is an accolade awarded annually by
World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
at the
World Rugby Awards The World Rugby Awards are given out annually by World Rugby (until November 2014, known as the International Rugby Board), the worldwide governing body for rugby union, for major achievements in the sport. The idea of rewarding excellence in rug ...
. The award is presented to honour "the achievements of those involved at the highest level of the world game on the field". The first World Rugby Player of the Year award was presented in 2001. It was called the IRB International Player of the Year; from 2007 until 2014 it was the IRB Player of the Year; in 2014 the award was titled the World Rugby Player of the Year before adopting its current name in 2016. The winner receives a trophy at an annual event awards ceremony. The voting panel select a list of nominees who can then be voted for by players, coaches, media representatives and the public via
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. Informed by the vote, the panel then select the winner. the voting panel comprises
John Smit John William Smit, OIS, (born 3 April 1978) is a former South African rugby union player and former chief executive officer of the Sharks. He was the 50th captain of the South Africa national team, and led the team to win the 2007 Rugby World C ...
,
George Gregan George Musarurwa Gregan AM (born 19 April 1973) is a retired Australian rugby union player, and is currently Australia's most capped international player. Gregan was born in Lusaka, Zambia. He played Super 12 (now Super Rugby) for the Brumbies ...
,
Melodie Robinson Melodie Robinson (born 25 May 1973) is a New Zealand sports journalist and presenter, and former international rugby union player for the New Zealand women's national rugby union team. She played 18 tests for the New Zealand women's team, the Bla ...
,
Maggie Alphonsi Margaret Alphonsi (born 20 December 1983) is an English former women's rugby union, rugby union player who played as a Flanker (rugby union), flanker for Saracens W.R.F.C. and England women's national rugby union team, England before retiring i ...
,
Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lion ...
,
Brian O'Driscoll Brian Gerard O'Driscoll (born 21 January 1979) is an Irish former professional rugby union player. He played at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and for Ireland. He captained Ireland from 2003 until 2012, and captained the ...
, Sir Richie McCaw,
Thierry Dusautoir Thierry Dusautoir (; born 18 November 1981) is a French former rugby union player who last played for France at international level and Toulouse in the French Top 14 club competition. Dusautoir was considered a strong ball carrier and possessed i ...
and
Fiona Coghlan Fiona Coghlan (born March 3, 1981) is a former Ireland women's national rugby union team, Ireland women's rugby union international. Coghlan represented Ireland at the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup, 2006, 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup squads, 201 ...
. The inaugural winner of the award was
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
hooker
Keith Wood Keith Wood (born 27 January 1972) is an Irish former international rugby union player who played as a hooker for Ireland, the British & Irish Lions, Garryowen, Harlequins and Munster. He was nicknamed 'The Raging Potato' because of his bal ...
who is considered one of the greatest
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and
British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...
players.
New Zealanders New Zealanders ( mi, Tāngata Aotearoa), colloquially known as Kiwis (), are people associated with New Zealand, sharing a common history, culture, and language (New Zealand English). People of various ethnicities and national origins are citiz ...
(also known as All Blacks) dominate the list of winners having received the award on ten occasions. Two players have won the award three times – flanker
Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby ...
(2006, 2009 and 2010) and
fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...
Dan Carter Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Carter played for Crusaders (Super Rugby) in New Zealand and played for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in ...
(2005, 2012 and 2015). Nominations for the award are dominated by players from Tier 1 nations; only United States'
Joe Taufete'e Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
has ever been nominated from a Tier 2 side. Fly-half is the most successful position with seven wins, followed by flanker with five. The winner of the World Rugby Player of the Year for 2022 was Ireland's
Josh van der Flier Josh van der Flier () (born 25 April 1993) is an Irish rugby union player for Leinster and Ireland. His preferred position is flanker, but plays at other positions if needed. Van der Flier is of Dutch descent through his paternal grandparents, ...
.


Winners and nominees


Statistics

:''Correct as of the 2022 award''


By country


References


External links


World Rugby Awards
{{featured list
Player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...
Awards established in 2001