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, George Gregan,

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,

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 Lio ...

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 rugby union international. Coghlan represented Ireland at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Women's Rugby World Cups. She also captained the Ireland team that won the 2013 Women's Six Nati ...

. The inaugural winner of the award was Irish hooker Keith Wood who is considered one of the greatest

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

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 (2006, 2009 and 2010) and fly-half Dan Carter (2005, 2012 and 2015). Nominations for the award are dominated by players from Tier 1 nations; only United States' Joe Taufete'e 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 is ...

Awards established in 2001