Share
13th December 2024
04:12pm GMT
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:
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
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
Explore more on these topics:
