The best of the best.

The 2023 Rugby World Cup is less than a week ago and the Telegraph have come up with an interesting list to get us all excited and talking ahead of rugby’s showpiece event.

They have decided to count down the ‘Top 100’ rugby players in the world over the last few days and we’ve decided to take a look at their ‘Top 20’ – and it’s guaranteed to cause some controversy.

Players 100-81, 80-61, 60-41, and 40-21 can be checked out via the links, but let’s get down the big list and have a look at who they think are the world’s very best.

Number one is an obvious one as far as we’re concerned, but there’s plenty of debate to be had elsewhere. Have a look and let us know what you think.

The 20 best rugby players in the world

20. Will Jordan (New Zealand)

19. Steven Kitshoff (South Africa)

18. Malcolm Marx (South Africa)

17. Samu Kerevi (Australia)

16. Thomas Ramos (France)

15. Levani Botia (Fiji)

14. Johnny Sexton (Ireland)

13. Julien Marchand (France)

12. James Ryan (Ireland)

11. Dan Sheehan (Ireland)

10. Hugo Keenan (Ireland)

9. Damian Penaud (France)

8. Jonathan Danty (France)

7. Tadhg Beirne (Ireland)

6. Will Skelton (Australia)

5. Caelan Doris (Ireland)

4. Grégory Alldritt (France)

3. Ardie Savea (New Zealand)

2. Eben Etzebeth (South Africa)

1. Antoine Dupont (France)