Sophie de Goede crowned World Rugby Women's Player of the Year

Canada lock Sophie de Goede has been crowned the World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year on a historic day for the sport, while England coach John Mitchell and New Zealand’s Braxton Sorensen-McGee also claimed prestigious awards.

England are the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup champions, storming home with a 33-13 win over Canada in front of 81,885 at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium. That result has seen the Red Roses extend their winning streak to 33 Test matches.

About 30 minutes after the full-time whistle, a packed house at the home of England Rugby were still cheering from their seats as the World Rugby Awards were presented. De Goede has take out the top individual honour for a player, named the world’s best after a valiant performance.

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De Goede received Player of the Match honours on two occasions throughout Canada’s World Cup campaign, including a standout performance in the quarter-final win over Australia at Bristol’s Ashton Gate two weeks ago.

Justine Pelletier was best on ground in the semi-final win over New Zealand, but de Goede was another top performer. That was the case yet again in front of a record women’s rugby crowd against England, with de Geode carrying and tackling hard for the full 80-minute battle.

Wallabies great John Eales recently spoke with RugbyPass about Canada’s goal-kicking lock, who was the third-top point scorer in the World Cup with 61. New Zealand duo Sorensen-McGee and Renee Holmes were slightly ahead with 69 and 64 respectively.

Sorensen-McGee was named the 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year after finishing the event as the top try-scorer. At just 18 years of age, Sorensen-McGee scored 11 tries in six appearances, including back-to-back hat-tricks.

“Pretty unreal, I’m pretty speechless at the moment. No words can really explain how I feel right now but I feel great,” Sorensen-McGee told reporters.

“I actually didn’t think that I would be close to that at the beginning of the tournament, but here now I’m grateful for how hard I worked for it.

“Just give it a go. You won’t really know how it will go if you don’t give it a go. Be confident in yourself and back yourself because other people will back you.”

The first award presented on the hallowed turf of Allianz Stadium was the Coach of the Year award, which was given to Mitchell. Mitchell has led the Red Roses to an incredible streak of victories, which now includes an unforgettable World Cup triumph.

More to come…