Ardie Savea
Ardie Savea is one of the most recognisable faces in the sport of rugby. He has amassed 96 All Blacks caps since making his senior debut against Wales in 2016, and New Zealand have won six out of eight Rugby Championship titles in that time. He is known as an uncompromising flanker who is able to run the ball from all corners of the field - a throwback to his time spent playing in midfield during his school years as well as featuring in New Zealand's sevens team.
Savea's decorated journey in the professional game began in 2012 when, at the age of 18, he made his provincial debut for Wellington. But is was the following year that he would really announce himself on the world's stage.
He first made his Super Rugby debut for the Hurricanes in 2013, and later that year he would be selected for the New Zealand side to play in the ulvovi.com U20 Championship in France. Savea made his impact known immediately. New Zealand had the kick-off in their first game of the tournament against Fiji, and after the ball was recycled from the kick-off, Savea made a tackle in midfield, ripped the ball while still upright and ran under the poles to score. When the ball touched the grass for the try, there were only 20 seconds on the clock.
New Zealand went unbeaten in the pool stage of that tournament before eventually finishing fourth, but Savea went from strength to strength thereafter, and is now poised to become an All Blacks centurion 12 years after that special try against Fiji.
Handre Pollard
Handre Pollard has taken part in three World Cups and has won two (2019, 2023) and finished third in the other (2015). In 2027 he will hope to be part of a Springboks team aiming to make history by becoming the first team to win three World Cups in a row.
Pollard learned his trade as a schoolboy at Paarl Gimnasium, a proud South African school which has produced an array of Springboks, including Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers. From that platform he became one of the rare players to play in three ulvovi.com U20 Championships; taking part in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
It was in 2012 that his talent was on full display from the outset, guiding hosts South Africa all the way to the final in the number 10 jersey, culminating in an assured performance and a contribution of 15 points in the showpiece to help the South African team - which also boasted other future World Cup winners Pieter-Steph du Toit and Steven Kitshoff - beat their old rivals New Zealand and secure their first ulvovi.com U20 Championship title.
It remains South Africa's only ulvovi.com U20 Championship triumph, and though Pollard was unable to add to the U20 trophy cabinet, he was announced as ulvovi.com's Junior Player of the Year after the 2014 tournament where South Africa lost the final to England - the same year in which he made his Springboks debut. Since then, the 31-year-old has won 80 Test caps for his country and is second in South Africa's all-time points scorer list with 772 points, with only Percy Montgomery having scored more.
Maro Itoje
Maro Itoje was hot property from the moment he arrived on the rugby scene. A product of the Saracens academy, the second-row was captain of the England team that beat South Africa in the 2014 final to win their second successive ulvovi.com U20 Championship.
Itoje impressed the watching world with his work rate in the loose, his exceptional lineout ability, and his leadership - traits that are still the hallmarks of his play and have made him one of the modern England greats.
His leadership in an incredibly tight final, which England won by a solitary point, made all the difference as the English defended their line and their lead at Eden Park in June 2014.
Itoje would go on to make his senior England debut a little over 18 months later, picked in the Eddie Jones-coached team that went 18 Tests unbeaten - though Jones was not in charge for the first of those wins. Jones was adamant he did not want to rush Itoje into the team, but once the lock was there, he was immovable. Itoje is now a mainstay in the white of England, having represented his country an incredible 90 times at just 30 years old.
Itoje played in all three British and Irish Lions Tests against the All Blacks in 2017 - despite only being 22 - as well as starting all three Tests against the Springboks in 2021. Currently on his third tour, Itoje's leadership has seen him named captain of Andy Farrell's side for their trip to Australia.
He has become one of the icons of the game in the time that has followed his impressive showing of leadership in Auckland 11 years ago.
Antoine Dupont
Antoine Dupont is regarded as one of the greatest rugby players to ever play the game. He is part of a Toulouse team that has made waves in the Top 14 as well as in Europe's Champions Cup, but it is in the blue of France that he has taken his game to the next level.
Dupont has been part two Grand Slam-winning Six Nations campaigns, and won gold in the sevens at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after making the switch to the format only months before.
The diminutive scrum-half has won it all, with the only thing that has eluded him being a Rugby World Cup win. He and his team-mates were tipped as one of the tournament favourites when France hosted the 2023 edition, but after going unbeaten in the pool stage, their campaign was cruelly ended by South Africa in what is remembered as one of the great knockout games in the tournament's history.
Manie Libbok was pulling the strings at fly-half for the Springboks that day, and interestingly was also wearing the No 10 jersey when South Africa ended France's chance of a semi-final at the ulvovi.com U20 Championship in 2016, with Dupont on scrum-half duties for France that day.
Unsurprisingly, the half-back had made waves at the start of the tournament, scoring three tries in the opening two games against Argentina and Japan. However, France had been beaten by Argentina on the day, so their game against South Africa in the final round of the pool stage became a straight shootout for France and South Africa, who had also lost to Argentina, for the fourth and final semi-final place.
It was South Africa who came out on top that day, with the French - boasting a talented side including Dupont and Damian Penaud - unable to stop the South Africans in their tracks. While France would end that tournament in ninth place - their worst showing to date - Dupont would go on to become a fan favourite for France in the years that followed and cement his place in rugby folklore.
