World Rugby Awards 2025: Malcolm Marx, Fabian Holland and Santiago Pedrero headline men’s category winners

Rugby’s brightest stars were celebrated today during an exciting day of international test rugby, with South Africa’s Malcolm Marx, New Zealand’s Fabian Holland and Chile’s Santiago Pedrero taking home top honours in the men’s categories.

Rugby’s brightest stars were celebrated today during an exciting day of international test rugby, with South Africa’s Malcolm Marx, New Zealand’s Fabian Holland and Chile’s Santiago Pedrero taking home top honours in the men’s categories.

The annual World Rugby awards recognised the outstanding performances and breakthrough talents that have lit up the international stage in the past calendar year.

The highly anticipated World Rugby Dream Team of the Year will be unveiled on Tuesday, 25 November, showcasing the standout performers from across the rugby world, while the women categories were unveiled last September after Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

See World Rugby Awards 2025 winners in women’s categories >>

World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year: Malcolm Marx (South Africa)

At the second time of asking and seven years after his first nomination, Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx joins two-time winner and fellow 2025 nominee Pieter-Steph du Toit, as well as Schalk Burger and Bryan Habana in an exclusive club of South African World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year winners. Marx has been a crucial cog in a dominant South Africa squad in 2025, starting 11 tests this year to date, and scoring four tries in the Rugby Championship alone. His second-half brace at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, in October, helped the Springboks come from behind against Argentina to claim back-to-back titles for the first time.

Nominees: Pieter-Steph du Toit, Ox Nché, Louis Bielle-Biarrey

World Rugby Men’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year: Fabian Holland (New Zealand)

Modest Dutch-born All Black Fabian Holland has insisted he’s “just the middle part” of a world-class lineout set-up who only “has to jump and catch the ball”, but the 23-year-old Highlander has made the step up to test rugby look much easier than jumping and catching. He has rapidly become the go-to player at the lineout and has featured in 11 of New Zealand’s 12 internationals this year, only missing November’s loss to England with illness. But it’s not just his undeniable aerial skills that have caught the eye. His work-rate and no-backward-step physicality quickly ensured his name is an early addition to the team sheet, and have made him the sixth All Black to be named Breakthrough Player of the Year, and, after Maro Itoje in 2016, the second second-row to win the award.

Nominees: Ethan Hooker, Henry Pollock, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii

International Rugby Players Association Men’s 15s Try of the Year: Santiago Pedrero (Chile, v Samoa, South America/Pacific Play-off, RWC 2027 qualifier – September)

Team team tries don’t come any better than the one scored by Chile’s Santiago Pedrero against Samoa in the Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 qualifying play-off. A pass off the deck suddenly ignited an attack that the Pacific Islanders seemed to have contained. One offload, then another, an inside pass, then back outside, allowed the second row to waltz to the line.

Nominees: Santiago Cordero (Argentina, v British and Irish Lions – June), Lekima Tagitagivalu (Fiji, v Australia, men’s international – July), Tupou Vaa’i (New Zealand, v France, men’s international – July)