World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year

The World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year is an award presented annually by World Rugby at the World Rugby Awards. It is given to honour "the achievements of those involved at the highest level of the world game on the field". First presented in 2001, it was initially named the IRB International Player of the Year; from 2007 until 2014 it was the IRB Player of the Year and in 2014 it was titled World Rugby Player of the Year, before being given its current name in 2016.
The winner receives a trophy at an annual awards ceremony. The voting panel select a list of nominees who can then be voted for by players, coaches, media representatives and the public via Twitter. Informed by the vote, the panel then select the winner. as of 2021 the voting panel comprises John Smit, George Gregan, Melodie Robinson, Maggie Alphonsi, Clive Woodward, Brian O'Driscoll, Richie McCaw, Thierry Dusautoir and Fiona Coghlan.
The first winner of the award was Ireland hooker Keith Wood. The winner for 2025 is South African hooker Malcolm Marx. New Zealand players have received the most awards, winning ten times. Two players have won three times - flanker Richie McCaw and fly-half Dan Carter. Nominations for the award are dominated by players from Tier 1 nations; only United States' Joe Taufete'e has ever been nominated from a Tier 2 side. Flankers have won the award most often, with eight wins, followed by fly-halves with seven.

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