Historic Eagles win in Nashville moves USA up the World Rugby rankings

The USA Women’s Eagles’ historic win against Italy in Nashville has seen Jack Hanratty’s side retake sixth in the World Rugby rankings.

On Saturday afternoon, on WXV Global Series’ penultimate weekend, the side won their fifth match in a row for the first time in 20 years when they dispatched the Azzurre 54-24 at Geodis Park.

The result sees the Eagles return to sixth in the World Rugby rankings, just one week after the Wallaroos overtook the North Americans to claim the position.

In Canberra, the Wallaroos picked up a 38-31 win over Scotland despite a string of yellow cards, as well as a red card for retiring player Cecilia Smith.

The Springbok Women have achieved their long-held ambition of moving into the top 10 of the rankings despite their loss to Ireland.

At Athlone Stadium, the side led by co-head coaches Laurian Johannes-Haupt and Franzel September was beaten 40-27 by Scott Bemand’s team, but moved to ninth in the World Rugby rankings. Scotland have dropped to 10th.

Thanks to their win, Ireland avoided dropping to seventh in the rankings. If both Australia and the USA had won at the weekend, Ireland’s fifth-place ranking would have been threatened.

A 17-0 loss to Wales in Tokyo has seen Japan drop to 13th in the rankings. Ahead of the weekend, it was confirmed that whichever team lost on Saturday would fall to that position.

The weather heavily affected the fixture, but two tries from Seren Lockwood and another from Kelsey Jones helped Sean Lynn’s side secure victory.

Elsewhere, Colombia climbed four places in the rankings to 27th with a 28-19 win over Chile in Santiago. The result saw Chile drop from 28th to 32nd.

This weekend, WXV Global Series will conclude with the USA taking on a Red Roses team that has now lost two matches in a row, the Black Ferns will host France in Christchurch, Wales take on Japan again and the Springbok Women host Ireland again.