women
international women
Last week RugbyPass appointed England Red Roses captain Meg Jones as the best player in 2026.
The thirty-year-old center was at the helm RugbyPass Top 50 female rugby players, but her selection isn’t the only thing worth talking about.
Here are five talking points from RugbyPass Top 50…
One
So many players kept the exact same spot RugbyPass Top 50 between 2025 and 2026. Although we were robbed of seeing Aoife Wafer (5th) for most female Rugby World Cup 2025 and the second half WXV Global Series 2026, you can’t deny her talent.
At the 2026 Guinness Six Nations Women’s Competition, the 23-year-old was in a league of her own. To put it in even greater context, the Player of the Championship award was only introduced in 2020, five players have previously won it and no one has done it twice. Wafer has.
It’s a shame the injury will mean the back row will now miss the start of the JAECOO Premiership Women’s Rugby season. Discovery with Harlequins last season, we’ll have to wait a few weeks before we see her on the field again.
Two
Number of Canadian scrum-halves on the roster. While other nations usually have a prominent player in an important position such as scrum-half, Canada they have two. For many years, Justine Pelletier feat of strength for Canada at fullback, but last year, Olivia Apps took over as a regular starter.
Apps tripled in 12 months. She decided to mix her time on the sevens court with a starting spot PWR club Saracens. A year later she is the reigning PWR Player of the Season, PWR Champion and Kévin Rouet’s preferred starting nine.
The pair formed a formidable double act as Canada ended England’s 41-match winning streak in Toronto and backed up that performance a week later in Ottawa. Apps launched straight to the 25th RugbyPass Top 50. Pelletier even moved up four spots to #36.
Three
Number of England Women’s World Rugby 15s Player of the Year winners included in the RugbyPass Top 50. Marlie Packer (2023), Ellie Kildunne (2024) and Zoe Stratford (2021) have all been named for their efforts over the past year.
Of course, all their inclusions had their own different nuances. Stratford, 30, for example, has not played rugby since February and announced her pregnancy. Her last game of test rugby was Women’s Rugby World Cup Final 2025. Such tremendous leadership and talent could not go unrecognized. Plus you’ve probably backed her to win British & Irish Lions Women’s 2027 selection.
Then you can look at Packer (38), who has been in some ridiculous form this year. The 37-year-old shows no signs of slowing down and was this year’s woman Six Nations top try scorer with seven points. Finally, a word for Ellie Kildunne (6th). It was a quiet WXV Global Series by her standards, but there was never a lack of effort from the 27-year-old.
Four
Heading into the final weekend of the WXV Global Series, USA The Women’s Eagles have won four out of four possible victories. However, a fifth win was out of reach as England’s Red Roses ran out 55-12 winners at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey. All of those wins came against women’s Six Nations opponents, who were stunned Ireland in Dublin, handed victory against Wales and then secured consecutive victories over Italy on home soil. Before September, Jack Hanratty’s side had managed just two wins.
These positive results made the players stand up to be counted. None more so than Freda Tafuna (44). The back row has always shown promise, but in the early fall the matchups shined for the Eagles. Her efforts yielded seven tackles, 113 carries and 205 post-contact yards. Then there’s Hope Rogers, the most capped Eagle and the only U.S. player to make the Women’s 15s Dream Team, who has continued to raise trees and target selection for a fifth Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Fri
France five players represented them at this year’s tournament RugbyPass Top 50. It has undeniably been a year that started well for François Ratier’s team, but it was derailed a bit by the conclusion of the WXV Global Series 2026 after three defeats to the Black Ferns in New Zealand.
In the end, Léa Champon (45) was the sole representative of France in the World Rugby Women’s 15s Dream Team of 2026. The Grenoble side was also named the best French international player at Rugby Night in September. The winger replaces his international and club team-mate Teani Fele as the recipient of the award.
Feleu earned a place on the list after returning to the France XV. Used in the back row by the former coaching staff, placed as a center by Ratier, allowed her to shine and was named 47th in the Top 50. Her sister, France captain Manae, missed the WXV Global Series to focus on her medical studies after an excellent Women’s Six Nations and was 34th.
Madoussou Fall Raclot and Justine Bourdon Sansus were the top ranked French players. The former was ranked 18th after a terrifyingly physical Women’s Six Nations and will not be seen on the field for some time as she is expecting her first child. Bourdon Sansus was a leading light for France as they went to the Grand Slam decider with England at the Women’s Six Nations and led her team in September to the WXV Global Series before they now travel in September.