Whether it be a baby-faced Brian O’Driscoll scoring a hattrick in Paris in 2000, a 23-year-old Sam Warburton captaining a young Welsh side to Grand Slam glory in 2012, or the twinkling toes of Ange Capuozzo igniting the Azzurri in 2022, countless young guns have burst onto the scene in the Championship throughout the years.
We take a look at six players with five caps or fewer from each nation for whom 2025 could be the year they make some waves on the international scene.
Sam Prendergast (Ireland)
This century, the Ireland No. 10 jersey has been owned almost exclusively by two players: Ronan O’Gara and Johnny Sexton. Many have tried and failed to wrestle it off them, but ultimately it has been a case of waiting for those legends to retire.
In the immediate aftermath of Sexton’s retirement, Jack Crowley appeared poised to be the heir, earning nine consecutive starts. However, in the autumn, Sam Prendergast put his hand up. Based on the history of the shirt, whoever stakes their claim now could well be the long-term custodian.
Leinster’s Prendergast, who played just 154 minutes across Ireland’s Autumn Nations Series campaign, showcased his ability to attack the gainline and put teammates through gaps.
In total, he made seven break assist passes, nearly double the tally of any other player from any team in the Autumn Nations Series (four players tied on four):
SAM PRENDERGAST (Ireland): 7
Tom Jordan (Scotland): 4
Huw Jones (Scotland): 4
Beauden Barrett (New Zealand): 4
Rieko Ioane (New Zealand): 4
The young fly-half has been hyped as the next big thing in Ireland for a few years, since leading the U20s to Grand Slam glory in the Six Nations and a World Championship final in 2023, and it wouldn’t be any surprise to see him make a big impression at Test level.
For now, the Ireland number 10 jersey belongs to Jack Crowley, but the battle between the Munster and Leinster fly-halves is one to watch.
Gaël Dréan (France)
In Damian Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey France have two wingers in sensational form, but the rapid rise of the latter over the last 18 months shows that it can sometimes only take a handful of appearances to force your way into the starting XV.
If either winger is struck down with injury, rested, or even dropped – as unlikely as that might seem - Gaël Dréan is one of a few players waiting in the wings (no pun intended) primed to step in.
The 24-year-old has been in incredible form for RC Toulon this season, dotting down for 10 tries in the TOP 14 in 2024/25. That tally is the joint most of any player alongside Bayonne’s Sireli Maqala, although Dréan’s have come despite playing fewer minutes:
GAËL DRÉAN (RC Toulon), Tries (T): 10, Minutes Per Try (MPT): 67
Sireli Maqala (Bayonne), T: 10, MPT: 91
Baptiste Couilloud (Lyon), T: 8, MPT: 103
Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Union Bordeaux-Begles), T: 7, MPT: 103
Teddy Thomas (Stade Rochelais), T: 6, MPT: 95
Nolann Le Garrec (Racing 92), T: 6, MPT: 135
In fact, of players to cross the try line more than once in the French top-flight this season, Dréan is one of only three to manage a rate better than one every 80 minutes, alongside his new international teammates Peato Mauvaka (one every 60 minutes, 5 in total) and Antoine Dupont (one every 65 minutes, 3 in total).
It’s not just his try-scoring rate that is impressive: his ability to make line breaks on a regular basis has also been a strong facet of his game. He’s made 11 line breaks in the TOP 14 this season, averaging one every 4.5 carries – of the 159 players to make 50+ carries in the league in 2024/25, only Remy Baget (one every 4.3 carries) has a better strike rate, with Six Nations stars Ange Capuozzo (4.8) and Louis Bielle-Biarrey (5.8) ranking third and fourth respectively.
Don’t be surprised therefore if Gaël Dréan has a big impact from limited minutes in 2025.
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (England)
England’s front-row is in transition. With stalwarts like Joe Marler, Dan Cole, Kyle Sinckler and Mako Vunipola no longer in the picture, the only props in their 2025 Six Nations squad with more than 10 caps are Will Stuart (45) and Ellis Genge (62).
Beyond them, an exciting crop of young talent is emerging, led by Fin Baxter and Asher Opoku-Fordjour. Others eager to burst through include the likes of Afolabi Fasogbon and Emmanuel Iyogun.
Opoku-Fordjour made his debut off the bench in England’s final game of the Autumn Nations Series against Japan and is a self-confessed scrum-freak.
In the Gallagher Premiership this season, he has been involved in 21 penalty-winning efforts at the scrum (16 on own feed, 5 on opposition feed). This equates to a rate of 3.2 scrum penalties per 80 minutes, the best of any prop to be involved in more than 50 scrums. Here's a breakdown of props boasting the most penalty-winning efforts in the English league:
ASHER OPOKU-FORDJOUR (Sale Sharks): 21
Nicky Smith (Leicester Tigers): 20
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers): 19
Richard Palframan (Newcastle Falcons): 18
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks): 13
Simon McIntyre (Sale Sharks): 13
Taking those penalties as a percentage of his overall scrum involvements, the young Sale prop has seen his side win a penalty from 40% of the Sharks’ scrum feeds – a league high – and 12% of opposition feeds.
Overall, just over one in four of his scrum involvements have yielded a penalty for Sale (26%). No prop has bettered that in the 2024-25 campaign so far (>50 scrum involvements).
England won a penalty on 33% of their scrum feeds in last year’s Six Nations, the best rate of any team. Adding Asher Opoku-Fordjour to the mix is a worrying thought for opposition front rows.
Alessandro Izekor (Italy)
2024 was somewhat of a breakthrough year for Italy in the Championship. Two wins and a draw (L2) was certainly better than their record of one win in 42 matches going into the tournament.
This should have come as no surprise to faithful fans of the Azzurri however. Their U20s have been consistently competitive against top sides for a number of seasons and Benetton’s form in the URC has also impressed.
Central to Benetton’s rise is 24-year-old Alessandro Izekor. Born in Brescia, the flanker cut his teeth at Calvisano before switching to the Lions in 2022. Italy have a wealth of talent in the back-row at the moment and Izekor only adds to this.
In defence, Izekor is a wall. Since the start of the 2023-24 URC season, he has made 28 dominant tackles – 12 more than any of his Benetton teammates. League-wide, only Ben-Jason Dixon and Ruben van Heerden (both 31) have recorded more:
Ben-Jason Dixon (Stormers): 31
Ruben van Heerden (Stormers): 31
ALESSANDRO IZEKOR (Benetton Rugby): 28
Elrigh Louw (Bulls): 27
David McCann (Ulster Rugby): 26
Emmanuel Tshituka (Lions, Sharks): 26
James Venter (Sharks): 26
Joseph Dweba (Stormers): 26
Going forward, he’s a valuable ball carrier too. His 57% gainline success rate, combined with a dominant carry rate of 33%, put him among the best forwards in the league.
Given his all-round contributions, it’s no surprise that Izekor has been Benetton’s most-used player this season, clocking up 520 minutes – more than anyone else in the squad. He’ll now be looking to translate that form from his green club jersey to the blue of his national team as Italy aim to build on their 2024 success in the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations.
Fergus Burke (Scotland)
In an alternate universe, we could have been writing about Fergus Burke being one to watch for England during this year’s Championship, given that the New Zealand-born fly-half could have represented both Steve Borthwick’s side, through his English mother, or Scotland, through his grandfather.
However, the Saracens playmaker has opted to play for Gregor Townsend’s side, citing that they would suit his style better. It’s not hard to see why.
Although the 25-year-old is a new Saracens recruit, he has firmly embedded himself into the starting XV in north London, racking up 640 minutes of game time in the 10 jersey in the Gallagher Premiership this campaign – only a certain Finn Russell has had more playing time at fly-half.
What sets Burke apart from other fly-halves in the English top-flight is his eye for the try line, crossing five times this season. No other player has managed to dot down more than twice while playing at number 10.
He’s not just a try scorer though. His attacking numbers across the board are impressive, ranking in the top three fly-halves in the Premiership for carries, metres gained, line breaks and defenders beaten this season.
While Scotland play with attacking flair, they have one of the meanest defences in the Six Nations too, and defence isn’t an area Burke has shied away from. Only two fly-halves have made more tackles than him in the league this season (AJ MacGinty and Fin Smith), while he’s made more tackles than Finn Russell (58) but missed 10 fewer (12 to Russell’s 22).
Of course, Finn Russell isn’t in the Scotland team for his defensive capabilities, but if Gregor Townsend wants to shore up any defensive frailties in the back line then the option is there.
There is another New Zealand-born playmaker in Scotland’s ranks in Tom Jordan who will also be vying for the back-up 10 role, but Fergus Burke has shown he has the right style of play to slot seamlessly into this Scotland side, as his numbers in the Premiership this season show: Minutes at #10: 640 (2nd)
Tries: 5 (1st)
Carries: 47 (3rd)
Metres Gained: 217 (3rd)
Line Breaks: 3 (3rd)
Defenders Beaten: 16 (3rd)
Tackles: 67 (3rd)
Tom Rogers (Wales)
Warren Gatland’s second spell in charge of Wales has been one of transition and this year feels like a continuation of that, with 17 of their 34-man squad having fewer than 10 caps.
One of those players is Scarlets’ Tom Rogers, who turned 26 last month and has just five appearances to his name for the senior team.
In the URC this season, the Welsh winger has beaten 28 defenders, a tally only five players have bettered this campaign. However, that total is all the more impressive given that he has carried the ball less often than any of the players ahead of him and faced just 59 tackle attempts – recording a 47.5% tackle evasion rate.
In fact, Rogers tackle evasion rate is the best of any of the 65 players to face at least 50 tackles in the URC in 2024/25. If he gets an opportunity to don the famous red shirt in this year’s Championship, keep your eye on him… if you can.
TOM ROGERS (Scarlets), Tackles Faced (TF): 59, Tackle Evasion (TE): 59 47.5%
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby), TF: 70, TE: 47.1%
Rhyno Smith (Benetton Rugby), TF: 53, TE: 45.3%
Tom Farrell (Munster Rugby), TF: 98, TE: 43.9%
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby), TF: 79, TE: 41.8%
*min. 50 tackles faced
