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Black Ferns move back to second in World Rugby rankings with Canada win
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New Zealand‘s 36-14 win over Canada in the Pacific Four Series has seen the Black Ferns move back into second in the World Rugby rankings.
Kévin Rouet’s Canada had held the position since the 2024 edition of WXV 1, which was hosted in Vancouver, after the side beat France 46-24.
In 2025 the Canadians were runners-up to World Rugby rankings table toppers England at the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
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The Black Ferns placed third at last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup and have begun life under new head coach Whitney Hansen with back-to-back Pacific Four Series wins over North American opposition.
This weekend New Zealand travel back to the southern hemisphere to play Australia’s Wallaroos at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
Jack Hanratty’s USA Women’s Eagles were another of the rankings’ movers and shakers over the weekend.
Their 33-12 win over Australia in Kansas City saw the 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup hosts leapfrog their Friday night opponents in the World Rugby rankings.
Coming into the Test the USA needed to beat Australia by 15 points or more to move ahead of their Pacific Four Series opponents.
The USA are now ranked seventh in the world and the Wallaroos, led by interim head coach Sam Needs, have dropped to eighth.
A thrilling finale to the Women’s Rugby Europe Championship has also seen movement for teams. A 15-5 defeat to Belgium has seen Portugal drop two places in the rankings from 22nd to 24th, with the Belgians advancing to 23rd.
Spain’s 43-19 win against the Netherlands has not seen tournament champions Las Leonas advance from 14th. The Netherlands have dropped one place to 17th and have been overtaken by Hong Kong China.
Fiji’s 85-5 win against Samoa in the Oceana Rugby Women’s Championship opener means that the Fijiana maintain 13th in the world.
Current World Rugby rankings [1-12]
1. England – 98.09
2. New Zealand – 91.60
3. Canada – 89.78
4. France – 83.60
5. Ireland – 78.38
6. Scotland – 77.56
7. USA – 74.34
8. Australia – 74.03
9. Italy – 72.20
10. South Africa – 71.62
11. Japan – 69.72
12. Wales – 65.95
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