England stars dominate experts' list of the Top 50 best women’s players in the world

The ‘ Top 50’ list itself has been dominated by England stars, with as many as 13 players making the cut - the largest representation of any nation. The highest placement has seen England lock Zoe Aldcroft coming in at number three. However, the coveted top spot has gone to New Zealand wing Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, followed by French scrum half Pauline Bourdon Sansus in second.

The full England representation across the 50, in descending order, was:

Zoe Aldcroft - #3

Megan Jones - #6

Ellie Kildunne - #11

Abby Dow - #12

Alex Matthews - #13

Abbie Ward - #19

Sarah Bern - #21

Claudia MacDonald - #22

Maud Muir - #24

Zoe Harrison - #27

Holly Aitchison - #31

Mo Hunt - #32

Hannah Botterman - #33

When reviewing the Top 50 list, two ex-England women’s rugby stars, former Red Roses captain and 2014 World Cup winner, Katy Daley-Mclean MBE and 2021 World Cup Finalist, Shaunagh Brown, shared their thoughts with RugbyPass. Both Daley-Mclean and Brown, welcomed the amount of English representation, but suggested some of their compatriots could have featured higher.

When discussing England Lock, Zoe Aldcroft, Shaunagh said: “She’s the type of player who does the work that people don’t necessarily see or understand. It’s only when you analyse the game in a particular way that you realise she does so much work, but doesn’t have the glory moments. So, I’m glad she’s in there.”

Shaunagh went on to make a case for Aldcroft having the credentials to take the top spot over Black Fern’s star Portia Woodman-Wickcliffe:

“I’d go Zoe Aldcroft [for number one], as it’s about the whole picture. In her career, I’ve played with her and against her, I’ve seen the player she’s grown into, I know how physically tough she is, but also I’ve seen her develop as a captain, and I know how much extra time you have to put in off the pitch.”

Katy Daley-Mclean heaped praise on England prop Sarah Bern as both a player and role model and put her forward as her preferred number one: “I think with the form Sarah Bern [21] has been in, it definitely means she should be there…if you’re picking the best 50 players in the world and it's a reflection of the game right now, it would be Sarah Bern in that number one spot.

“What Sarah Bern is doing is changing the mould of how we think a prop should play; the way she carries, the way she runs, and her technical ability as a prop have all improved massively. So, not only is she doing what we would class as the ‘fundamental role’ of the prop, she’s now also doing what we would suggest is a back row’s job - and she’s doing it better than most other back rows, that’s what tips it for me.

“Another big thing is that I think that women have a responsibility to be good role models and Sarah Bern is probably doing that the best of all the players in that list. If you're a young girl looking at that you are going to go ‘whoa look at her’. Not only is she an absolute bulldozer, she's really comfortable in her own skin - which is a pretty cool message to be able to send.”

Daley-Mclean and Brown also shared the view that several England players outside of the top 10 were deserving of placements in those rankings, in particular fullback Ellie Kildunne.

Katy stated: “Ellie, who is the ‘world player of the year’ and doesn’t make the top ten - could be in Portia’s spot. Ellie plays in a position where you expect her to be able to run, pass, and kick, and she can do all of that really well; and that’s what makes her one of the best players in the world.”

Shaunagh added: “If we’re talking career-wise I’d put Alex Matthews a lot higher because, again, she is one of those people that gets so much work done. She gets on with it quietly and does so much without even realising it, and I look at Ellie Kildunne, and I know she’d be fuming about that ranking, but she’d also take it as a challenge.”