A British and Irish Lions tour uniquely challenges the strength of the participating nations, and England’s experience in 2025 mirrored this.
Since many of Steve Borthwick’s top players were participating in the Lions tour, he had to diversify his team for the Argentina tour, which significantly reshaped the national squad for future engagements.
Counter-intuitively, several players found their prospects for England diminished after joining the Lions, struggling to regain their national spots even though they were considered among England’s premier talents.
Nevertheless, Borthwick’s decisions are difficult to dispute given the team’s impressive run of 11 consecutive victories. The diverse array of athletes deployed this year, prompted by the Lions tour, meant numerous individuals distinguished themselves as leading contenders for England’s top player.
Furthermore, having suffered only a single defeat throughout the entire year suggests minimal differentiation among England’s elite players, all of whom delivered strong performances in 2025. However, certain individuals followed distinct paths—experiencing rapid career progression, significant improvements in performance, or overcoming challenges—all of which factored into evaluating England’s standout players for 2025. The top five are presented below:
England
Wales
Commendable Mentions
Maro Itoje consistently merits inclusion here, as the England skipper reliably performs well. Despite elevating his game this year, other individuals demonstrated more substantial growth and, notably, excelled while Itoje led the Lions.
Tommy Freeman, who accompanied Itoje to Australia, seemed a definite selection after scoring in every Six Nations game this year. Nevertheless, he was unavailable for the Argentina tour, and a hamstring issue restricted his Quilter Nations Series appearances to just two games, causing him to miss critical encounters against the All Blacks and Argentina.
5. Ollie Lawrence
Lawrence’s 2025 season was frequently disrupted by injuries. Initially, a severe Achilles tendon rupture late in the Six Nations dashed his Lions aspirations. Later, after returning to Test play, he sustained a hamstring injury in the concluding moments of England’s November win against the All Blacks – a match where the Bath player also scored a try.
Yet, his contributions for England merit his inclusion here. Moreover, Borthwick acknowledged this year that Lawrence is most effective as an outside centre, discontinuing attempts to adapt him into an inside centre. With his Bath colleague Max Ojomoh tipped for the No.12 shirt in the Six Nations, the upcoming year 2026 might prove even more successful for the 26-year-old.
Similar to Freeman, Lawrence wasn’t a constant presence for England this year, but his ability to regain peak performance following a significant injury is praiseworthy.
4. Jamie George
George’s leadership of England concluded in 2025; he also didn’t consistently secure a starting spot with Luke Cowan-Dickie’s return, and at 35, doubts lingered about his participation in the World Cup two years away. Despite these circumstances, his on-field displays remained unaffected.
Irrespective of his role, be it starting, coming off the bench, or holding captaincy, the experienced player, who reached his 100th cap during the Six Nations, maintained his status as one of England’s most reliable performers throughout the year.
Often leading the tackle statistics when in the starting lineup and, apart from the game against the All Blacks, serving as England’s most consistent lineout thrower, George delivered some of his finest performances in an England jersey this year. His standout effort was in the opening Test versus Argentina in July, where he completed 22 tackles, five of them dominant, prior to departing the England squad for the Lions.
3. Joe Heyes
The year marked significant development for Leicester Tigers’ Heyes, securing his spot on this ranking. The 26-year-old began the year filling in for Will Stuart in all five Six Nations fixtures – a steady, yet not particularly remarkable contribution. However, during Stuart’s absence with the Lions, Heyes stepped up, earning the player of the tournament award for England’s summer tour of Argentina and the USA, subsequently starting three of their four Quilter Nations Series games.
Possessing an unyielding presence in the scrum and an unparalleled work ethic among England’s tightheads, Heyes definitively emerged from Stuart’s shadow this year, establishing himself as a genuine contender for the number three shirt. Given Stuart’s probable absence from the Six Nations due to an Achilles injury, Heyes is set to shoulder even greater responsibility.
2. George Ford
At the conclusion of the Six Nations, few would have anticipated Ford’s inclusion on this roster, following a tournament where Fin Smith appeared to have secured the England No.10 position, and the Sale Sharks fly-half played merely 25 minutes from the interchange in the Championship’s closing fixture.
Nevertheless, mirroring numerous aspects of existence, the conclusion matters more than the commencement, and Ford presently stands as England’s premier form No.10, poised to guide the team through the Six Nations. Conceptually, if the year represented a contest, the 32-year-old emerged victorious, dominating the latter half after Smith controlled the initial period.
The Argentina tour marked a pivotal moment for Ford; there, he earned his 100th cap and led the squad to a decisive 2-0 series triumph against the Pumas. With Marcus and Fin Smith away with the Lions, alongside captain Maro Itoje, the primary burden of leadership fell upon Ford, and he performed admirably. He then maintained this exceptional performance throughout the Quilter Nations Series, securing the player of the match award in the encounter against the All Blacks.
England’s contemporary strategic approach appears ideally matched to Ford, with his precise kicking dictating play, making it highly improbable that Borthwick will deviate from this system.
1. Ben Earl
Throughout 2025, England’s players encountered variations in performance and squad selection, yet Earl maintained an elite standard from beginning to end.
Regardless of his starting position in the loose forwards, and irrespective of England holding possession, the 27-year-old consistently delivers pivotal plays.
Agile at the breakdown and perpetually active defensively, it is Earl’s ball-carrying prowess that renders him exceptionally potent, evidenced by both the quantity and impactful nature of his runs.
During a year when England had to bid farewell to their preferred number eight, Tom Willis, who was heading to Bordeaux, Earl enabled supporters to quickly adapt to the change.
