Tadhg Beirne lone Irishman in World Rugby Team of the Year as Springboks dominate

Tadhg Beirne, Ireland's iron man, was chosen for the World team of the year. Picture: Dan Sheridan/Inpho

Simon Lewis Tadhg Beirne is the lone Irishman in World Rugby’s Men’s 15s Dream Team of the Year for 2025, a line-up dominated by six South Africans.

It is the second year in a row that the Munster and Ireland lock/flanker has received the honour for the game’s global governing body and this time represents a recognition of a body of work that saw Beirne named player of the series for the British & Irish Lions as well as winning a Triple Crown in last spring’s Six Nations.

Though Beirne’s effort in the series win over Australia was as a blindside flanker, as was his powerhouse, man of the match performance in Munster’s URC derby victory over Leinster at Croke Park in October, he has been selected a second row in this dream team alongside his Lions captain Maro Itoje and in front of a back row featuring his touring team-mate Tom Curry of England at openside flanker alongside Springbok Pieter-Steph du Toit and Wallabies No.8 and captain Harry Wilson.

Men’s 15s Player of the Year and hooker Malcolm Marx forms part of an all-Springbok front row alongside loosehead prop Ox Nche and Thomas du Toit.

World Rugby Team of the Year

One of six South Africans in the World Rugby Men’s 15s Dream Team at the end of another successful year for Rassie Erasmus’ world champions, who claimed back-to-back Rugby Championship titles for the first time this year, and stand tall at the top of the World Rugby Men’s Rankings after winning all their November internationals to date.

Marx makes up one-third of an all-Springbok front-row, alongside Ox Nché and Thomas du Toit, while in the backline fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and winger Cheslin Kolbe complete the contingent from the back-to-back world champions, who added Ireland to their list of victims in 2025 with a dominant 24-13 victory at Aviva Stadium last Saturday.

New Zealand is represented at full-back with Will Jordan and scrum-half Cam Roigard, with Australia’s Len Ikitau and Scotland’s Lion Huw Jones forming the centre partnership while Bordeaux and France’s Louis Bielle-Biarrey nails down the left-wing berth after a year in which he was named Six Nations player of the championship in a title-winning campaign for Les Bleus and then helped his club side win their first Champions Cup.

World Rugby Men’s 15s Dream Team of the Year 2025

Ox Nché (South Africa) 

Malcolm Marx (South Africa) 

Thomas du Toit (South Africa) 

Maro Itoje (England) 

Tadhg Beirne (Ireland) 

Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa) 

Tom Curry (England) 

Harry Wilson (Australia) 

Cam Roigard (New Zealand) 

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (South Africa) 

Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France) 

Len Ikitau (Australia) 

Huw Jones (Scotland) 

Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa) 

Will Jordan (New Zealand)