#1. Antoine Dupont (France)
The France scrum-half has topped Rugby World’s 2021 list after a standout year. He has helped Toulouse complete a European Champions Cup and Top 14 double as well as captained France during a successful autumn series, which included beating the All Blacks on home soil for the first time since 2009.
#WORST:
#3. Ollie Lawrence
Twelve months ago the powerhouse centre was dubbed ‘the next Manu Tuilagi’ and was being thrust into the England midfielder for the 2021 Six Nations. He proved to be just as effective as using folk to eat soup as Eddie Jones’ men levelled a record low fifth-place finish. The England boss later labelled him as ‘not hungry’ in a damning section of his new book. So, yeah, 2021 could have gone better.
