Towering All Blacks lock Fabian Holland has capped a stellar debut season by being named World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year for 2025.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old Highlander played his first test in July against France, with his aerial skills catching the eye of the selectors.<\/p>\n
In making his step-up to the world stage, the modest Dutch-born lock has insisted he’s “just the middle part” of the lineout.<\/p>\n
He featured in 11 of New Zealand’s 12 internationals this season, rapidly becoming the go-to player in the set-piece.<\/p>\n
In fact, the only game he missed was the All Blacks’ recent loss to England, due to illness.<\/p>\n
His workrate and no-backward-step physicality quickly ensured his place in the team.<\/p>\n
Holland relocated from Amsterdam to Christchurch at the age of 16 to attend Christchurch Boys’ High School.<\/p>\n
He progressed rapidly from the First XV to the New Zealand U20s, before making his provincial debut for Otago in 2021.<\/p>\n
In 2023, Holland impressed for the All Blacks XV, producing a standout man-of-the-match performance against Munster in Ireland.<\/p>\n
Holland is the sixth All Black to be named Breakthrough Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of teammate Wallace Sititi, who took home the award last year.<\/p>\n
South Africa hooker Malcolm Marx was named World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year, the fourth Springbok to claim the individual award – seven years after he was first nominated.<\/p>\n
Marx took the award ahead of Springbok teammates Pieter-Steph du Toit, twice a winner, and Ox Nch\u00e9, as well as French winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey.<\/p>\n
Nch\u00e9 hoped to become the first prop to win the prize and had a strong case.<\/p>\n
Marx joined Du Toit (2019 & 2024), Bryan Habana (2007) and Schalk Burger (2004) as South African recipients of the award.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in to be honest,” Marx said, after a player-of-the-match display against Ireland. “To be fair, none of this is achieved without the team environment we have, without the management, without the players.<\/p>\n
“We are tightknit group and things like this happen, when you have a group that we have. In my opinion, this isn’t for me just an individual award – I think it’s more a team award, because the support and the structures that we have for guys to express themselves is unbelievable.”<\/p>\n
– Reuters\/RNZ<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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