These are the top 10 Rugby World Cup players to follow on Facebook (and their Instagram counterparts)

Facebook has launched a host of new features in the run up to the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off later this week.

Among the new features is one called Let Your Friends Know You’re Watching. In order to take advantage of it, tap the smiley icon before you share a post, select “watching,” and choose Rugby World Cup or the specific match you are viewing at the time. You can select the flag of your favourite team’s country or post with the RWC official ball.

The big blue social network has also launched a new sticker pack featuring Shaun the Sheep. The stickers feature the popular woolly character along with popular rugby cheers like ‘HEAVE!,’ ‘TRY!,’ ‘PENALTY!,’ and more to help you express yourself before, during, and after matches.

In addition to the new features, it has published a post which highlights the top team and player accounts to follow:

Top 10 Players on Facebook

Given Facebook’s global status, it should hardly be surprising that players on the big blue social network come from a wide variety of countries. It’s worth noting however that you shouldn’t expect inside updates from All Black Israel Dagg, as he was left out of the World Cup squad.

1. Dan Carter (New Zealand)
2. Quade Cooper (Australia)
3. Thierry Dusautoir (France)
4. Bryan Habana (S. Africa)
5. Israel Dagg (New Zealand)
6. Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
7. François Trinh-Duc (France)
8. Tommy Bowe (Ireland)
9. David Pocock (Australia)
10. Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)

Top 10 players on Instagram

If the World Cup were decided on Instragram followers, then New Zealand would have no trouble defending its 2011 title. As is the case on Facebook, Dan Carter comes out tops, with three of his teammates making the top 10. The next best performer is Australia, with three players in the top 10, with single players from England, Wales and Ireland rounding out the list.

1. Dan Carter (New Zealand) – dancarter_
2. Sam Burgess (England) – samburgess8
3. Quade Cooper (Australia) – quadecooper
4. Israel Folau (Australia) – izzyfolau
5. Matt Giteau (Australia) – matt_giteau
6. Malakai Fekitoa (New Zealand) – malakaifekitoa
7. Liam Messam (New Zealand) – liammessam
8. George North (Wales) – george_north
9. Aaron Smith (New Zealand) – aaron_smith09
10. Rob Kearney (Ireland) – robkearney

Image: Rugbyworldcup.com