Impressive win over Springboks helps USA climb World Rugby rankings

The USA Women’s Eagles have climbed back to eighth in the World Rugby rankings thanks to their 26-19 win against the Springbok Women last weekend.

A 34-21 defeat against South Africa one week earlier in Johannesburg had seen Jack Hanratty’s team fall to ninth behind their Pacific Four Series rivals the Wallaroos.

An instant return to winning ways in Pretoria means that the World Rugby rankings read the same as they did a fortnight ago.

Hanratty made seven changes to his starting XV for the Pretoria Test and quickly reaped the rewards as braces for Hope Rogers and Telesi Uhatafe provided the North Americans with a suitable buffer between themselves and their hosts.

It was a dramatic change in fortune for the Eagles, whose next scheduled Test is against Ireland on Sunday 20 September at Tallaght Stadium, Dublin, in their WXV Global Series opener. The USA will also play Wales on the away leg of their WXV Global Series campaign.

In October, Hanratty’s side will host Guinness Women’s Six Nations side Italy twice and conclude their campaign against Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 champions, England, at New Jersey’s Sports Illustrated Stadium.

South Africa have announced that their next fixtures will come against Fiji in a two-match series in August.

Those fixtures will provide Swys de Bruin’s team with an opportunity to break further into the world’s top 10 before a one-off fixture against the Black Ferns at FNB Stadium in early September.

Across their WXV Global Series campaign South Africa come up against Wales, Italy and a pair of Tests against Ireland in Cape Town.

Updated World Rugby Women’s Rankings Top 15

1. England – 98.09 (-)
2. New Zealand – 91.60 (-)
3. Canada – 89.78 (-)
4. France – 84.59 (-)
5. Ireland – 78.69 (-)
6. Italy – 74.79 (-)
7. Scotland – 74.40 (-)
8. USA – 74.05 (-1)
9. Australia – 74.03 (+1)
10. South Africa – 71.91 (-)
11. Japan – 69.72 (-)
12. Wales – 65.22 (-)
13. Fiji – 64.39 (-)
14. Spain – 63.68 (-)
15. Samoa – 59.31 (-)