Surprise name leads points scoring charts 2 years out from Men's RWC 2027

Santiago Videla kicked Chile to victory and to the 2027 World Cup in Viña del Mar on Saturday, slotting four penalties and a couple of conversions, and in doing so became the second-highest points scorer in men’s Test rugby this year.

The Chilean inside centre with nerves of steel in front of goal, only missed one attempt at a sold-out Estadio Sausalito – hitting the woodwork with a touchline conversion – and collected 16 points in the 31-12 win over Samoa.

Videla now has 88 points for the year, a remarkable return from seven appearances in what has been another momentous year so far for Los Condores, especially as all of his points have come from kicks.

However, he isn’t the leading points scorer of any of the top 20-ranked nations, or those outside of that elite group, who’ve qualified for the World Cup, such as Canada, Hong Kong, China and Zimbabwe.

Here’s our rundown from 10 to 1:

10= Manie Libbok (South Africa), Tommaso Allan (Italy), Akaki Tabutsadze (Georgia) – 45pts
Georgian sensation Tabutsadze is the leading try-scorer in the world in 2025, with a tally of nine tries, one more than France superstar Louis Bielle-Biarrey, and is now one of the top 10 all-time try-scorers in the history of Test rugby.

Libbok’s first try of 2025 came at the end of the Springboks’ thrashing of Argentina on Saturday and puts him level with Tabutsadze and Italy’s Tommaso Allan in joint-10th place. Allan was the second-highest points scorer in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations with 45, boasting an 85% success rate in front of goal.

9. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (South Africa) – 47pts
Feinberg-Mngomezulu had only scored 10 points in his six previous appearances in 2025 before his record-breaking performance in Saturday’s 67-30 win over Argentina. The 23-year-old, in only his third start of the year, scored over half of the Springboks’ points, including a stunning hat-trick and only missed one of his 11 attempts at goal. His 37 points were the most scored by a Springbok in a single Test.

8. Peter Nelson (Canada) – 51pts
The flame-haired fly-half has a monster boot out of hand and is no slouch off the tee, either. Nelson’s contribution to Canada’s qualification for the next World Cup has been huge, with 38 of his team’s 83 points at the recently concluded Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup.

7. Ian Prior (Zimbabwe) – 52pts
Prior retired from Super Rugby to help Zimbabwe qualify for their first Rugby World Cup since 1991. His game understanding and ability to bring out the best in those around him were evident in the Sables’ successful mission. However, it was his goal-kicking that was arguably the single most significant factor in their Africa Cup win, the veteran playmaker averaging 17.33 points per game.

6. Sam Prendergast (Ireland) – 58pts
Ireland’s much-talked-about fly-half was the third-highest points scorer in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations, with a success rate of 77%. Prendergast’s three late penalties helped Ireland to win the Triple Crown down in Cardiff, but most of the chat remains around his defence.

5. Santiago Carreras (Argentina) – 69pts
Bath fans will be counting down the days until Carreras arrives from Rugby Championship duty. Class at fly-half or full-back, Carreras is also very reliable in front of goal and currently tops the competition’s points-scoring charts with 60, successfully slotting 88% of his opportunities.

4. Thomas Ramos (France) – 70pts
The Six Nations’ top points for the last three seasons, Ramos also became the most prolific points scorer in French rugby history in 2025, overtaking Frédéric Michalak’s longstanding 436-point mark. Very rarely misses and has nailed countless clutch kicks at goal.

3. Seungsin Lee (Japan) – 77pts
At one stage this year, it looked as though Morné Steyn’s record of 41 consecutive kicks at goal would be broken, but Japan’s fly-half fell 11 short, having missed a 62nd-minute conversion in the second Test defeat to Wales in July. It ended a 12-month-long hot streak from the tee.

2. Santiago Videla (Chile) – 88pts
Another of those players who you expect never to miss once they step over the ball. Across the two legs of the RWC 2027 qualifier play-off vs Samoa, Videla scored 28 points, while he was also instrumental in helping Chile to qualify for the last tournament in France.

1. Gonzalo Lopez Bontempo (Spain) – 97pts
Top point scorer with 69 points, Gonzalo Lopez Bontempo helped Spain to a runners-up finish in the Rugby Europe Championship and was voted by fans as Player of the Tournament. Two of Lopez’s penalty goals were from inside his own half, so he has distance as well as accuracy in his goal-kicking arsenal.

The RC Massy player augmented that total with another 28 points in wins against the USA and Canada in July and needs three points to become the first player to reach the century mark. A couple of tries are included in his total.

*Data supplied by World Rugby and includes the top 20 teams in the world rankings plus RWC 2027 qualified teams