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Sport Nation
Year in Review: Most outstanding international team of 2025
Sport Nation • December 29th, 2025 7:00 am
The Broncos join their fans in celebration back at Suncorp Stadium | Photo: Jono Searle/AAP
With a blockbuster 12 months of sports in the rear-view mirror, what better way to wind up than by reflecting on some of the stellar achievements of a memorable year of Kiwi excellence.
Today, the Sport Nation crew cast their vote for the best international team of 2025.
Brisbane Broncos
Robbie McFarlane, Scotty & Izzy producer: The Broncos are my pick for of their unforgettable finals run. This was a team that didn’t win a single game in the month of May, then looked dead and buried in the qualifying final, trailing the Raiders 28-12 with just 15 minutes to play - before somehow storming home to steal it 29-28.
That comeback didn’t prove to be an outlier either. A week later, the Broncos overturned a 14-0 halftime deficit to beat the defending premiers Penrith 16-14 in the preliminary final, setting the stage for one of the great grand final stories.
The decider against Melbourne was the ultimate exclamation point. Trailing 22-12 at halftime, and then losing both Adam Reynolds and Ben Hunt to injury in the second half, Brisbane looked spent - until Reece Walsh produced a performance for the ages. With a try, three try assists, four line-break assists, 14 tackle busts and multiple try-saving plays, Walsh dragged the Broncos back into the contest as they scored four unanswered second-half tries to win 26-22.
You simply can’t look past a team that repeatedly refused to lose, capped by their first premiership since 2006 - fittingly, once again at Melbourne’s expense.
Jacob Scott, Afternoons producer: The Broncos thrilled throughout the season with their spectacular scorelines and nail-biting finishes.
I'll never forget the end to the semi-final against Canberra in the capital. Then, to end the Panthers would-be five-peat will go down in history.
Throughout the season they battled with bad press - sometimes self inflicted - overcoming it all and becoming Premiers again to snap a 19-year drought.
The triumphant Broncos are greeted by thousands of fans back at Suncorp Stadium | Video: AAP
England women's rugby team
Mark Stafford, Afternoons host: The Roses won the 2025 Rugby World Cup and in doing so extended their win streak to 33 games.
The investment by England to make the women’s game fully professional in 2019 is certainly paying off in results now.
Alex Chapman, Mornings co-host: The Roses had the enormous pressure of a home World Cup as overwhelming favourites, having won 57 of their previous 58 matches and 87 of their last 91.
They'd set standard in the women’s game for almost the last decade, but were missing the World Cup medals.
They finally delivered, and did so in dominant fashion.
England Red Roses coach John Mitchell | Photo: Matthew Impey/Photosport
Springboks
Riccardo Ball, Mornings co-host: There, I said it.
They've had a fantastic 2025 which has included a record-breaking thrashing of the All Blacks in Wellington, comfortably winning the Rugby Championship and putting Wales, Ireland, France, Japan and Italy to the sword as well.
Oh, and Rassie Erasmus has just signed an extension until the 2031 Rugby World Cup.
Stephen Foote, digital producer: The Boks reaffirmed their status as the world's premier team, separating themselves from the pack with a squad replete with remarkable depth, a clear and concise approach, overseen by elite leadership.
Team Europe
Sam Ackerman, Scotty & Izzy producer: Europe’s Ryder Cup team are a team in every sense of the word.
In a sport as individual as it comes on a week-to-week basis, the way the Europeans rally together every two years is incredible to watch.
The bigger the adversity or more boorish the New York crowd became, the stronger the Europeans became as a unit. I hate it when people suggest one team wanted it more than the other, it was clear those representing an entire continent had more collect desire to perform for each other than those flying the flag of one not-so-united country.
The scoreline may have ended up close – but all anyone will remember is Europe showing the Americans how team-work is done.
McLaren F1
Finn James, Millsy & Guy producer: I think the McLaren F1 team was the most dominant this year. With 14 grand prix wins and 34 podiums, it’s hard to look past the dominance of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri leading McLaren to a very convincing constructors championship win, where they almost put 400 points between themselves and second-placed Mercedes.
It was a joy watching Piastri and Norris go head to head almost every Grand Prix.
Paris St Germain
Henry Lee, Millsy & Guy producer: The Dodgers World Series triumph was epic sporting theatre, but as a huge football fan, PSG's Champions League run was something else.
They beat some great teams in the buildup, and with the new format, it's a very hard competition to win.
PSG totally outclassed Inter Milan 5-0 in the Munich decider to win the French club's first Champions League title | Photo: AP
Florida Panthers
Logan Swinkels, digital lead: For me it's the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions! As much as it pains me to say it when my team hasn't won since 1967.
While the 2024 winners were a strong team, you could say they well and truly loaded up on this year’s NHL Trade Deadline Day to pick up Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins. The player nicknamed ‘The Rat’ gets sent to the team where fans throw rats on the ice? It was just too perfect of a fit. Plus the addition of Seth Jones added a right-shot defender that can contribute at both ends of the ice.
With Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky standing on his head - and the Edmonton Oilers’ goalie tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard leaking goals like a sieve at times to MVP Sam Bennett - it felt inevitable that the cats would dish out disappointment to Connor McDavid’s side for the second year running.
As Chris Cuthbert called it when the clocks hit zero, "they're knocking on dynasty's doorstep."
