AHEAD of the start of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup this week, a global panel of experts from rugby website, RugbyPass, have compiled a rundown of the top 50 women’s players in the world right now.
While the ‘Top 50’ has been dominated in terms of representation by England and New Zealand, four Ireland players have made the rankings. These are: inside centre, Aoife Dalton [49], back row and World Rugby ‘Women’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year’, Erin King [44], Ulster and Gloucester-Hartpury hooker, Neve Jones [17] and Number 8 and 2025 Six Nations ‘Player of the Championship’, Aoife Wafer, who placed highest in a respectable fifth place.
In addition, a number of former women’s rugby pros who were asked to review the Top 50 for RugbyPass, offered many positive comments about the Ireland contingent in the list, in particular for Aoife Wafer.
Siwan Lillicrap, the ex-Wales lock, who also captained the side at the last Rugby World Cup in 2022, praised Wafer and the huge effect she has on the Irish team: “Aoife Wafer who has broken through in the last season and performed so well for Ireland.
“Within the Irish squad she’s turned into their go-to player for getting over the game line and ball carrying. The positive impact that she has for them is also huge, when she’s not on the park they don’t seem, in my opinion, to run at the level they do when she’s on the field. So she is deservedly up in that top ten even though she’s reasonably new on the scene.”
Similarly, ex-England prop and 2021 World Cup Finalist, Shaunagh Brown, suggested how some of the Ireland players could have featured further up the rankings: “I look at Aoife Wafer and I wonder whether she should be higher, after her great Six Nations. Neve Jones could possibly go up if she has a good few games too.”
Brown added: “Someone who isn’t in the top 50, but who could come up after recovering from an injury, is Dorothy Wall of Ireland. I would put her on the list, maybe lower down, potentially swapping her with Erin King. If she’s back in time she’ll have a big impact on this list next time.”
In a contrast to this, former Red Roses captain and 2014 World Cup winner, Katy Daley-Mclean MBE, also added her thoughts, commenting on the bright future for Erin King: “You look at someone like Erin King [in the 50] – who is a top, up and coming player – if we were to do this again in 2029, I believe we would see her on a much higher trajectory.”
The full list of the RugbyPass Top 50 can be found here: https://www.rugbypass.com/top-women-rugby-players/
The Top 50 by national representation:
- England – 13
- New Zealand – 9
- Canada – 7
- France – 6
- Ireland – 4
- Scotland – 3
- Australia – 3
- USA – 3
- Italy – 2
About the RugbyPass Top 50
The panel involved in the creation of the Top 50 includes: Lucy Lomax, Imogen Ainsworth, Finn Morton, Ned Lester, Franscisco Isaac, Willy Billiard and Joe Harvey.
About RugbyPass
RugbyPass is a leading international rugby media business, entertaining rugby fans globally through trusted and expert content. RugbyPass is made up of a number of complementary rugby websites, making it the largest rugby content destination in the world. The platform covers all levels from age-grade rugby through to the elite for both the men’s and women’s forms of the game.
