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HSBC SVNS 2026
Perth

Today

07:00

International

12-year wait ended as major World Ranking change lands

By Jon Newcombe

2 hours ago

Garry Ringrose is one of several elder statesmen who is yet to find his best form this season (Photo Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Italy’s 18-15 win over Scotland in rain-sodden Rome has resulted in the teams swapping places in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings.

Once the rankings are officially updated at noon on Monday, the triumphant Azzurri will move up to ninth following their first opening weekend win in 13 years, with Scotland falling to 10th.

It is the first time that Italy have been ahead of Scotland in the rankings since June 2013, when the teams were ranked 10th and 11th.

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Italy will receive an additional 0.82 points for an improved rating of 79.81 points, 0.41 points more than Scotland, who lose an identical amount in exchange.

Italy and Scotland are not the only Six Nations teams to trade places. France have climbed above Ireland into fourth place, as a result of Les Bleus convincing 36-14 win in Paris in the 2026 Six Nations curtain-raiser. The Irish are down to a near four-year low of fifth.

England remain in third place with an unchanged rating of 89.41 points as their dominant 48-7 win over Wales at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham did not come with any rankings reward.

Wales are also unchanged in 10th place on 74.24 points.

There were away wins for the two Iberian teams in the opening round of the Rugby Europe Men’s Championship.

Spain began their bid to go one better than last year when they finished runners-up to Georgia with a 51-33 win over the Netherlands in Amsterdam, while Portugal managed to avoid a potential banana skin against Belgium, coming away from Mons with a 47-17 victory.

Los Leones’ ranking of 15th will not be altered by the result, but Os Lobos will move up to 19th at the expense of Samoa, who will drop to a record low of 20th.

The remaining two matches in the opening round of the Rugby Europe Championship take place today, with Switzerland at home to defending champions Georgia and Germany hosting Romania.

Updated World Rugby Men’s Rankings Top 12

1. South Africa 93.94
2. New Zealand 90.33
3. England 89.41
4. France 88.40
5. Ireland 86.81
6. Argentina 84.97
7. Australia 81.53
8. Fiji 81.14
9. Italy 79.81
10. Scotland 79.40
11. Wales 74.23
12. Japan 74.09

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Comments

5 Comments

unknown 59 mins ago

If England manages a clean sweep of the 6N to claim a Grand Slam, that would put them on top of the world rankings while the southern hemisphere nations are in hibernation. Then, when they meet the Springboks in the inaugural game of the Nations Championship they’ll be precariously close to equaling their men’s record of 18 consecutive wins - especially if they have a warm up match before that summer series. Similarly, the Springboks will be looking to match and beat that record 18 match winning streak to cement their claim as (one of?) the best team/s ever, and reclaim their place at the top of the rankings. They’d need to beat the All Blacks another four times along the way to 18 wins. Of course, France, Argentina, Ireland and others will have their own plans. This is all building up towards an epic rugby year, in which titans from the north and south are playing some of their best rugby. Let the games begin!

PMcD 1 hr ago

IRE are an interesting team to compare, traditionally strong in defence but when you look at their results they are not prolific scorers against top teams (usually sub 20 points) but they do put big scores on lesser teams to flatter some of the averages.

2019 - Played 13, PF 263 (ave 20 points) PA 228 (ave 18 points)

2020 - Played 9, PF 194 (ave 22 points) PA 155 (ave 17 points)

2021 - Played 7, PF 246 (ave 35 points) PA PA 129 (ave 18 points)

2022 - Played 11, PF 258 (ave 23 points) PA 182 (ave 17 points)

2023 - Played 13, PF 444 (ave 34 points) PA 130 (ave 10 points)

2024 - Played 11, PF 298 (ave 27 points) PA 165 (ave 15 points)

2025 - Played 11 (ex Portugal), PF (ave 35 points) PA 206 (ave 19 points)

The change in defence since 2023 has put greater pressure on the attack to score points but when they usually score less than 20 points against a top team, you are seeing them struggle against the top teams since 2024.

It’s not bad but statistically, the adverse results are more defence related, rather than attack, which has reached the tipping point and left them losing games they traditionally would have won.

One try less in defence and one better in attack would dramatically change their fortunes.

PMcD 1 hr ago

I predict ARG will be above IRE by the time of RWC 2027.

Eric Elwood 1 hr ago

Have you looked at the nations cup matches, 6N and rugby champs to make that call?

It depends on if Ireland have reached rock bottom yet. Not long ago they supplied most of the Lions squad. They are not as poor as the performance in Paris seemed to indicate. Argentina are near the top of their curve now. Ireland are not and it remains to be seen if Ireland fall more or climb. Opportunity for both teams in 2027. And indeed for Scotland.

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