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Ellie Kildunne named World Rugby women's 15s player of the year

By Liam Heagney reporting from Monaco

152 days ago

England's Ellie Kildunne poses with the trophy after she won the World Rugby women’s 15s player of the year (Photo by Frederic Dides/AFP vi Getty Images)

England’s Ellie Kildunne has been named World Rugby women’s 15s player of the year in Monaco. The 25-year-old beat fellow nominees Alex Matthews, her English teammate, Canada’s Alex Tessier and Pauline Bourdon Sansus of France to the 2024 award.

Kildunne was also one of six England players included in the World Rugby women’s 15s dream team of the year. Six countries were represented in that selection, with Canada and New Zealand next-best with three inclusions each.

USA, Ireland and France completed the XV, each contributing one representative.

Ireland’s Erin King was named 15s breakthrough player of the year, while 15s try of the year went to Marine Menager of France.

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World Rugby women’s 15s dream team of the year: 15: Ellie Kildunne (England); 14. Abby Dow (England), 13. Slyvia Brunt (New Zealand), 12. Alex Tessier (Canada), 11. Katelyn Vahaakolo (New Zealand); 10. Holly Aitchison (England), 9. Pauline Bourdon Sansus (France); 1. Hope Rogers (USA), 2. Georgia Ponsonby (New Zealand), 3. Maud Muir (England), 4. Zoe Aldcroft (England), 5. Laetitia Royer (Canada), 6. Aoife Wafer (Ireland), 7. Sophie de Goede (Canada), 8. Alex Matthews (England).

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Comments

2 Comments

BC 151 days ago

I was at the 6N match against Ireland at Twickenham. The roar of anticipation every time Ellie got the ball was amazing.

Surprised at some of the "dream team", who would not get into a Red Roses squad.

Tom 152 days ago

Very well deserved.

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Comments on RugbyPass

Snash 18 minutes ago

Glasgow hit back at Stephen Donald's 'absolutely unfounded' comments

Erm ABs 4th or 5th choice flyhalf - from whence it comes mate.

32 Go to comments

PR 26 minutes ago

Glasgow hit back at Stephen Donald's 'absolutely unfounded' comments

Please, Donald only kicked that penalty because every 10 in NZ and his dog went down with an injury and he was drafted in as an emergency. I mean, hats off to him for holding his nerve, but don’t paint him as a great player. And as a pundit he’s a dullard.

Also, Barrett is playing in the best club side in the world which is making it easy for him to shine. And he’s not won sh*t just yet. All the comps are coming to the business end so we’ll see how he ends the season.

32 Go to comments

PR 33 minutes ago

Glasgow hit back at Stephen Donald's 'absolutely unfounded' comments

Conveniently ignoring the fact that Barrett is playing in the best club side in the world that is making it easy FOR him. It’s difficult for NZ to accept that they have become an outpost in the rugby landscape. All the power and money is in the NH, especially with South Africa now playing there as well. Second is probably Japan and then NZ. You’ll see more and more players leaving SR and not just for the money but because they want to win a cup that actually means something on the world stage. Does it really mean that much for NZ-based players to win the SR title AGAIN after pumping Aussie, Samoan and Fiji sides? It’s shooting fish in a barrel.

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Rowland Curren 33 minutes ago

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WA: + 4 4 7 4 1 8 3 6 7 2 0 4

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Mark 34 minutes ago

Edinburgh sign ‘highly rated’ Leicester Tigers prop James Whitcombe

One wonders whether Tigers ongoing coaching issues are playing a part in both the retention and procurement of players!!

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CM 42 minutes ago

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Remind me of his “class” during his abysmal Autumn International appearances.

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Rowland Curren 43 minutes ago

Former England star leads Benetton to huge URC result over Lions

WA: + 4 4 7 4 1 8 3 6 7 2 0 4

7 Go to comments

PR 51 minutes ago

Glasgow hit back at Stephen Donald's 'absolutely unfounded' comments

I was talking about TV viewership. If you compare Super Rugby with URC, Champions Cup and Challenge Cup there’s no real comparison. In terms of attendance some of the bigger games draw crowds of 80,000 so the NH is doing just fine in that regard.

And you are confusing running a round a lot with intensity. If you don’t think Leinster vs Munster or the Bulls vs Stormers is intense you simply haven’t watched enough rugby being played the northern hemisphere comps.

Purely in terms of playing talent the NH comps are streets ahead. NH comps made up of seven of the world’s top 10 nations. SR has three and that includes a struggling Australia.

I like watching SR and thankfully it’s getting more competitive but it’s not superior to URC. And it’s not in the same ballpark as Champions Cup.

32 Go to comments

MT 1 hour ago

Glasgow hit back at Stephen Donald's 'absolutely unfounded' comments

Only if their playing in the sunshine of Perth mate, nowhere else.

32 Go to comments

Rowland Curren 1 hour ago

Don't get out over your skis on the Highlanders

WA: + 4 4 7 4 1 8 3 6 7 2 0 4

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NB 1 hour ago

How 'misunderstood' Rassie Erasmus is rolling back the clock

I don’t see any problem with the way the bench has been interpreted in practice, and whatever the intention really was it doesn’t matter. So why is a review necessary?

217 Go to comments

NB 1 hour ago

How 'misunderstood' Rassie Erasmus is rolling back the clock

Don’t be so disingenuous JW. I’ve been as clear as daylight in way I constructed the article and the conclusions I’ve drawn. The AB forwards/backs sizes actually support the theory too.

You may not agree but you’ve given no evidence to support it.

217 Go to comments

NB 1 hour ago

How 'misunderstood' Rassie Erasmus is rolling back the clock

They won’t start Jegou ahead of the others as a specialist 7.

The pattern of picking a huge THP and big bloke behind goes all the way down to the 20’s, where a couple of years back they had a 130 kilo THP and Posolo Tuilagi [150 k’s] behind him.

As far as NZ goes, the forwards average out at 116 k’s [I prefer EDG to Tamaiti as I think he’s still the starting #1], the backs at 95 kilos, so the total is +21 kilos which supports the theory!

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Tracy Robbins 3 hours ago

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Tracy Robbins 3 hours ago

How 'misunderstood' Rassie Erasmus is rolling back the clock

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