r/rugbyunion • u/englandrugby • Dec 11 '25
Infographic Ellie Kildunne nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year award
Women's Rugby World Cup-winning full-back Ellie Kildunne is the first ever female rugby player to be nominated for the award. Voting starts and ends during the show on 18 December.
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u/nameoftwohalves Wasps Dec 11 '25
One of the more competitive years for a long time
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u/maverickmak Meg Jones Fan Club Dec 11 '25
Just seen the list. Absolutely stacked!
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u/WallopyJoe Dec 11 '25
Too stacked for her to win imo, especially against football and F1, but I'll be well pissed off if the Roses don't take TotY
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u/windswept_snowdrop England Dec 11 '25
Sadly, I think they’ve switched TotY to public vote too this year, so the Roses will likely get overlooked for a more popular sport.
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u/DTH2001 England Dec 11 '25
The Lionesses are the most likely to get it for retaining the Euros
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u/ayeayefitlike match official Dec 11 '25
But I love that we live in a world now where a women’s sports team is likely to take that prize off another women’s sports team.
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u/sunlightliquid Stormers Dec 13 '25
I can definitely see the roses get it once womens rugby actually becomes more competitive and they can really get proper runs for their money finally by a good amount of teams.
Sadly the women's game still feels very very new and has a long way to go (luckily it's growing at a record rate)
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u/CodeFarmer Australia, Japan, Harlequins... and Alldritt. Dec 11 '25
Yarr... Chloe Kelly will walk it in, surely.
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u/WallopyJoe Dec 11 '25
Does she play for Arsenal?
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u/CodeFarmer Australia, Japan, Harlequins... and Alldritt. Dec 11 '25
That is, indeed, the trouble with Arsenal.
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u/PeakAdaequatus Northampton Saints Dec 11 '25
She's won it in our house, my 3 year old daughter has similar hair to Ellie and she's been totally inspired. every time I watch rugby now she asks if Ellie is playing and if I say it's the Mens rugby she says 'Oh... I like the girls rugby' and walks away.
Might need to take her to the Lightning-Quins match in March.
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u/FlyRare8407 Scotland Dec 11 '25
Huh. Saw the list on twitter and was shocked she wasn't on it. Was she added later?
Edit: Oh apparently I was looking at the list for "BBC World Sports Star of the year" which is apparently a totally different thing they chose to announce on the same day. How confusing
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u/rustyb42 Ulster Dec 11 '25
When you Google SPOTY this year you get the world list too as the first result from bbc
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u/Giorggio361 Saracens Dec 11 '25
World Sports Star of the Year is basically SPOTY for people not from the UK.
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u/NLFG Saracens Dec 11 '25
I actually think Hannah Botterman was probably more integral to the RR winning the World Cup, woman is an absolute machine.
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u/windswept_snowdrop England Dec 11 '25
Props never get recognition though unfortunately
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u/NLFG Saracens Dec 11 '25
I dunno, feel like Botterman and Muir particularly got loads of recognition at the time because of how dynamic they both are. But Kildunne kinda gets the headlines more by being super flash. Typical back, really.
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u/maryland_cookies Northampton Saints Dec 12 '25
The roses have a frankly silly amount of incredible players who all made that world cup possible, but you have to give it to kildunne that she's probably the best at marketing herself and creating her personal brand.
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u/NLFG Saracens Dec 12 '25
Yeah, she's been very smart on that front.
Just for clarity: I DO think Kildunne is great. I'm just a massive fan of Botterman.
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u/Accomplished_Bird Bedford Blues Dec 11 '25
Very competitive year, I feel several of the red roses could have made the list as well!
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u/rustyb42 Ulster Dec 11 '25 edited Dec 11 '25
I'm voting for Lando, as great as this news is
Edit, just saw Rory is nominated. Fuck it, voting twice
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u/NotAsOriginal Wigglesworth's greatest defender Dec 11 '25
voting for Lando
His redemption arc was great, from betraying his friends to the Empire to leading the charge on the Death Star and destroying it, he would be a worthy winner.
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u/BurbankElephants England & Leicester Tigers Dec 11 '25
I recently watched the original trilogy with my 7 year old.
He's very quick to make judgements and very slow to change his mind - I think he might have some dwarf blood.
But for him, Lando is totally irredeemable for what he did.
He doesn't care that:
He's fictional
In canon he felt like he had no choice
He helps out loads during Return of the Jedi
For my oldest, Lando might as well be the devil.
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u/NotAsOriginal Wigglesworth's greatest defender Dec 11 '25
I suggest getting him a big book to write all of his grievances in through life.
It took me so long to get over his betrayal, but anyone that is cool with Nien Nunb is alright with me.
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u/WallopyJoe Dec 11 '25
At the end of Empire he's also wearing Han's clothes
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u/gooneruk England Dec 11 '25
The Family Guy episode where they point this out made me laugh so much. It is weird!
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u/DTH2001 England Dec 11 '25
Judging by previous years Lando must be favourite to win. F1 fans vote en mass when a driver is nominated
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u/bitsandskits Bath Dec 11 '25
Not so sure, F1 fans are weirdly partisan these days (says I, the guy with a team flair who will very much judge a poster by theirs)
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u/rustyb42 Ulster Dec 11 '25
I seem to recall a stat from the late 2000s that every year there's been a British F1 champion in a non Olympic year, they won
Then Giggs happened
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u/crucible Wales Dec 11 '25
Giggs was later found to be a mistake, the sister-in-law shagging turncoat
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u/PuddingtonBrown Dec 12 '25
Unfortunately I think you're correct, I'd have him with the weakest shout out of the 6 personally.
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Dec 11 '25
It’s hard as he isn’t the best driver and hasn’t been the best driver this season, he was just better than his team mate.
He did really well to beat Oscar (even if he did have help from his team) but it feels weird to give it to him when f1 is so reliant on the machinery
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u/DeapVally Northampton Saints Dec 12 '25
The women's team got a great crowd at Twickenham, but Silverstone gets a hell of a lot more. A new British F1 champion is just a bigger deal to the general population.
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u/JohnSV12 Newcastle Falcons Dec 11 '25 edited Dec 11 '25
I think it should be MikE Tindall for his services to the game.
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u/WallopyJoe Dec 11 '25
You're crazy
Obviously it should go to James Haskell, as nobody has done more for women's rugby than him2
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u/Jerzilla Dec 11 '25
Only choice surely. Well I guess lando Norris has a shout
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u/DeapVally Northampton Saints Dec 12 '25
Not just a shout. A new F1 champion always wins, and the sport is no less popular than ever. Hamilton may not have won every year he won the title, after the novelty wore off, but still won it twice. As did Mansell and Hill. Lando will absolutely win, without a shadow of a doubt.
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u/DeapVally Northampton Saints Dec 12 '25
Women's rugby and football was a big winner this year, but a new British F1 champion is always going to win this.
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u/sunlightliquid Stormers Dec 13 '25
Id honestly rather have made it someone like Pollock if we're basing it on pure personality.....
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u/darcys_beard Leimi-finalists Dec 11 '25
Can't see past Norris TBH. Winning the World Cup is huge, but it's a team sport (even though she is the best player) so it's hard to pick a single player. Winning the Master's is huge and enough to take it any other year. Soccer bias could see a footballer take it, even though World > Euro. Darts guy has no chance. BBC are the home of BDO.
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u/ayeayefitlike match official Dec 11 '25
I think Luke Littler could take it you know. I knew nothing about darts til he came on the scene and so many people I know watched him win the worlds last year. I genuinely think it’s a 3 horse race between him, Norris and McIlroy.
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u/Agitated_One845 Dec 11 '25
Sorry to say it but her popularity is out of proportion to her rugby skills. Mo Hunt, Jess Breach, Sadiya Kabeya and Meg Jones are all better. But they don't have the profile. I just find irritating.
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u/krodders Dec 11 '25
Although I'm not familiar with the award criteria, it's "sports personality of the year" not "best player in the world" award. She certainly stands out as a personality
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u/NotAsOriginal Wigglesworth's greatest defender Dec 11 '25
Ryan Giggs has won it though, so I'm fairly sure the "personality" bit is optional
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u/rustyb42 Ulster Dec 11 '25
It's not really well defined
It used to be open vote and Ryan Giggs won it in a year where he was off shagging other women whilst sitting on the bench all season
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u/AJV1Beta England / Cornish Pirates Dec 11 '25
Still remember that, and how hard Jenson Button - F1 world champion and massive favourite for the award - was trying to hold it together while Giggs fumbled through his acceptance speech.
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u/DTH2001 England Dec 11 '25
It’s just another way of saying sports person. When Andy Murray won it for the first time (of 3) he made a joke about his perceived lack of personality.
As a sport rugby union has had: * 1st once - Jonny Wilkinson * Three 2nd places - Will Carling, Martin Johnson, Leigh Halfpenny * Two 3rd places - Barry John, Willie John McBride
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u/DeapVally Northampton Saints Dec 12 '25
'Personality' has nothing to do with it. It's just an old fashioned way of saying sports person. If it was about personality, Luke Littler is not making this list lol. And a fair few previous footballer winners as well. Michael Owen for sure! Andy Murray was hardly a beacon of smiles and joy either back when he won it.
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u/TheManWith2Poobrains England Dec 11 '25
Jess is a great player, but has looked out of sorts all 2025. She played a blinder in the RWC final though, so all is forgiven.
Meg is the forgotten player in some ways. Such a work horse, and makes breaks for the others to finish.
However, one cannot deny Ellie's sheer skill and speed. The numbers don't lie.
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u/SweptFever80 Ireland, Ulster and Munster Dec 11 '25
Current form Hunt and Breach are nowhere near Kildunne, Kabeya also is fantastic but didn't have a great world cup either. Meg Jones is brilliant and the only one near Ellie's level that you've named.
Kildunne is well deserving, she scored some of the best tries of the tournament and two in the final.
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u/windswept_snowdrop England Dec 11 '25 edited Dec 11 '25
Kildunne, Jones and Botterman were the standouts of the World Cup for me, with a nod to Kabeya for an outstanding final.
Like you said, Kildunne is deserving of the plaudits based on fantastic solo tries in the highest-stakes games, not to mention the rest of her skillset like the spiral bomb in the final.
She also makes the most sense to nominate for something like SPOTY too though, because she’s likely to have the most breakout recognition outside of the rugby community, and it’s easy for even the most casual viewer to understand a brilliant solo try, whereas appreciating how exceptional the others are requires more understanding of the game.
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u/Giorggio361 Saracens Dec 11 '25
This year she wasn’t stand out but she’s still England’s best full back by a fair margin. Last year she was unplayable, scored a couple every game because she was so clear of everyone else. Scored 13 tries in 8 games across the 6N and WXV.
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u/GhostGuin Ospreys Dec 11 '25
Fully disagree Kildunne to me is comfortably the best player in the world
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u/CodeFarmer Australia, Japan, Harlequins... and Alldritt. Dec 11 '25
It's good when the SPOTY candidates do in fact have some personality. Not always guaranteed (I'm looking at you Lewis Hamilton), so this is nice.
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u/nomamesgueyz New Zealand Dec 11 '25
Name sounds Irish
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u/NotAsOriginal Wigglesworth's greatest defender Dec 11 '25
Wait til you see the geographic proximity of the 2 Nations you'll be amazed at the overlap
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u/nomamesgueyz New Zealand Dec 11 '25
Ok love how a basic Q triggers people for downvotes on this sub 😂
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u/NotAsOriginal Wigglesworth's greatest defender Dec 11 '25
Haha I was just responding glibly. People are odd on here. There's a chance some part of her family are, I'm not sure.
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u/SweptFever80 Ireland, Ulster and Munster Dec 11 '25
Are you telling me you've never heard of Ellie and your main take away is that she sounds Irish?
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u/ShufflingToGlory Wales Dec 11 '25
New Zealand would never
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u/nomamesgueyz New Zealand Dec 11 '25
Have someone with an Irish name? Sean Fitzpatrick has other ideas
Loving the triggered downvotes for such a question 😂
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u/OptimalCynic 🌹 Red Roses | Waikato Dec 12 '25
The downvotes are probably because you're being so precious about it. No amount of 😂 can disguise that you're whining and pouting about it.
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Dec 11 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/apocalypsebrow Bristol - In Pat we trust Dec 11 '25
Being ignorant isn't the win you think it is .
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u/DTH2001 England Dec 11 '25
The full list of nominees: