World Rugby player of the year awards always generate debate, that’s kind of the point of them. They’re recognition of a great 12 months’ performance as judged by a panel of experts, but ultimately they are subjective.
Were we to be objective, however, and base the award purely on stats, one player is miles ahead of the rest – and his name almost certainly hasn’t crossed your mind.
He has won an international trophy this season, gotten to a European Cup Final, and tops pretty much every attacking metric you can think of. His name: Georgia’s 23 year old fullback Davit Niniashvili.
The Proof
Here are Niniashvili’s stats for 2025 (before Georgia played Japan last weekend):
Most try assists of any player
Most try involvements of any player
Most metres gained of any player
Most defenders beaten of any player
2nd most line break assists of any player
3rd most offloads of any player
Top 10 players for kick metres & carries made
These numbers make him, statistically, the most dangerous attacking player in test rugby. This is on top of things that aren’t captured in the stats such as his phenomenal prowess in the air or his ability to cover 10 and goal kick if needed. His decision making is near flawless and his counter attacking is razor sharp. It’s not just a purple patch either – Niniashvili has been performing at this level for a good couple of years now.
The Debate
The obvious pushback to Niniashvili’s achievements is that he is doing it at a T2 rugby level so it’s easier – which is true. He is playing for a Georgian team that has clear daylight between itself and any other T2 nation and would probably win Rugby Europe easily enough without him. Take Damian Willemse, Thomas Ramos or Will Jordan and drop them into these competitions, they’d likely do very similar.
On the other hand, there are 14 other Georgian’s on the pitch playing in the same games, and none of them are posting numbers even close to Niniashvili’s. If we spin the question around and ask how he would perform for an Ireland, England or New Zealand – the answer is probably very, very well indeed.
For further evidence we can look to his numbers playing for Lyon – a mid table side in the French TOP14. We see that last season he was 3rd in the league overall for metres made – backing up his international stats – and ranked in the top 15 for all the major attacking stats despite playing fewer minutes than most. If he’d have been playing for a top side such as Toulouse or La Rochelle, his output would certainly have been even greater.
Niniashvili’s spark, along with the grunt of Mickael Guillard and the class of the Couilloud/Berdu half back partnership, was one of the main reasons Lyon were able to get to a Challenge Cup final against Bath last season. Small wonder Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle broke out their chequebook to sign him for this season, with him repaying them by scoring 4 tries and making 6 line breaks in just 6.5 80s so far.
Once again, these stats don’t capture the fact that even the most casual rugby fan would pick Niniashvili out of any team as one of the star players, such is the class he exudes on the pitch. Will he ever receive a world player of the year nod? Probably not, especially with Georgia being confined to the T2 circuit for the foreseeable, but he gets the acknowledgement from this article if nothing else.
P.S. a mention too for Japan’s Lee Seungsin who was the top points scorer in test rugby in 2025, including a clutch overtime penalty to beat Georgia and sent his country to the World Cup as 2nd seeds!