“Caelan Doris has stepped up to every challenge thrown his way since first breaking into the Leinster and then Ireland set-ups.”
RugbyPass have named four Irish players in the top 20 of their ‘Top 100 Rugby Players’ list, and two in the top 10.
In total, there are 14 Ireland players on the list:
- Robbie Henshaw (100)
- Mack Hansen (97)
- Tadhg Furlong (80)
- Garry Ringrose (71)
- Hugo Keenan (54)
- James Lowe (38)
- Josh van der Flier (35)
- Dan Sheehan (32)
- Bundee Aki (28)
- Joe McCarthy (26)
- Andrew Porter (24)
- Tadhg Beirne (18)
- Jamison Gibson-Park (9)
- Caelan Doris (8).
It’s no surprise to see such a representation for Ireland given their success this year, which included winning the Six Nations in March, before beating South Africa away from home in the summer.
Last month, four Irish players were named in World Rugby’s 2024 Dream Team – Doris, Gibson-Park, Beirne, and Lowe – but interestingly Lowe finds himself ninth best in the RugbyPass list, obviously suffering from a disappointing Autumn Nations Series.
Tadhg Beirne may feel hard done by being nine below Gibson-Park, given the Munster forward’s consistency.
Joe McCarthy’s position is also questionable. Yes, he does deserve a slot on the list, but needs to show more in his game and cut out the penalties to truly be a top-30 player.
Robbie Henshaw finds himself 29 places below Garry Ringrose. Many Irish would rate Henshaw above his Leinster centre partner, and given that the latter missed this year’s Six Nations, there is fair reason to scrutinise.
The top 10 is as follows
- Antoine Dupont (France)
- Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa)
- Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa)
- Eben Etzebeth (South Africa)
- Ardie Savea (New Zealand)
- RG Snyman (South Africa)
- Will Jordan (New Zealand)
- Caelan Doris (Ireland)
- Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland)
- Ox Nche (South Africa)
Despite the Springboks rightfully dominating the top 10, many of their supporters were not too pleased with Dupont coming first.
While the French scrum-half is widely regarded as the best in the world, there is a large cohort of South Africa fans who question this, given France’s failure at World Cups and Duponts lack of success in the Southern Hemisphere.
These opinions are generally worth ignoring, but in this instance, given that Dupont skipped the Six Nations, there are grounds for criticism.
I agree Brendan that the worship is cult like and bizarre. He is however an exceptional talent and great rugby player.
— Nukintree (@nukintree69777) December 13, 2024
