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Rugby World Cup power rankings: Week two's movers and shakers
The 2019 Rugby World Cup is about to enter its third week and there has been some substantial movement in the latest power rankings, not least due to Japan’s highly impressive win over Ireland in Pool A.
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South Africa and Wales are among the other risers whilst Ireland and Australia have fallen from their previous spots, as all 20 sides jockey for position and attempt to qualify for the quarter-finals.
For the third week in a row, New Zealand are sitting pretty in top spot, something which is unlikely to now change, unless Italy can give them a shock next week.
- New Zealand (Previous rank: 1)
The All Blacks backed up their victory over South Africa with a 63-0 jaunt against Canada and they have done nothing to dispel the notion that they are the favourites for the trophy. The gap may have been lessened by the chasing pack over the last couple of years, but New Zealand are still the best overall rugby team on the planet right now.
- England (Previous rank: 3, up 1)
Despite not playing this week, England rise by default, with Ireland taking a significant tumble down the rankings. England looked professional and unfazed by their first two outings which, somewhat expectedly, resulted in two bonus point wins. Their first true challenge comes against Argentina on Saturday.
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1179702303177216000?s=20
- South Africa (Previous rank: 4, up 1)
The Springboks fell last week due to their lack of ruthlessness against the All Blacks, something which they made up for in their 57-3 win over Namibia. Their African rivals aren’t the biggest test on the Boks’ schedule and, a potential upset against Italy aside on Friday, Rassie Erasmus’ side should be cruising into the quarter-finals, where they could well see a Rugby World Cup rematch with Japan.
- Wales (Previous rank: 5, up 1)
Winning the crunch game of their pool against Australia has done wonders for the spirit of Welsh fans. Warren Gatland and his team are now in complete control of Pool D and should results go to form against Fiji and in Pool C, they will avoid England at the quarter-final stage. Wales look to be building nicely as the tournament develops.
- Japan (Previous rank: 8, up 3)
Starting out the Rugby World Cup in 10th, Japan have now moved up a total of five spots, something which is certainly warranted based on their 19-12 victory over Ireland. They have shown that they are capable of knocking off tier one sides when they play to their potential and home advantage, particularly comfort in the humid conditions, is proving to be a significant one for the Brave Blossoms.
- Ireland (Previous rank: 2, down 4)
Joe Schmidt’s side looked abject against Japan and fall significantly as a result. They should still qualify for the quarter-finals, something which has been helped by their win over Russia on Thursday, but even that performance looked laboured for large portions of the game. They still have the Samoa game to tune up ahead of the knockouts, but Ireland look significantly short of peaking currently.
- Australia (Previous rank: 6, down 1)
The loss to Wales causes a small fall for the Wallabies and although the scores were close come the final whistle in that game, it was a contest that Wales controlled for the majority. Australia are still more than capable of upsetting the best teams in this tournament on their day, although they don’t look to have the consistency to be a real threat for the title at the moment.
- France (Previous rank: 7, down 1)
Les Bleus have looked pedestrian so far in the tournament and if they finish second in Pool C, as they are currently tracking to, Wales are unlikely to be too concerned by the challenge. France have won both of their games so far and sit just a point behind England in the group standings. That said, their 33-9 bonus point win over the USA on Wednesday certainly flattered the European side.
- Argentina (Previous rank: 9)
After losing narrowly to France in the opening week, Mario Ledesma would have been looking for a backlash from his side against Tonga. Although they triumphed 28-12, it was far from a convincing performance from Los Pumas and they will need to make dramatic improvements to knock off England on Saturday and resurrect their chances of making the quarter-finals.
- Italy (Previous rank: 10)
Both of Italy’s wins came in the opening week, so there’s been little opportunity for them to move here. They play South Africa on Friday and will be buoyed by memories of their win over the Boks in Florence in 2016. The Azzurri have grown over the two games so far and although an upset is unlikely, it’s not impossible in Shizuoka.
- Scotland (Previous rank: 12, up 1)
Gregor Townsend got his needed resurgence against Samoa on Monday and Scotland were excellent value for their 34-0 win over the Pacific Islanders. They will now need to beat Russia and then see off hosts Japan in the final pool game so there is still plenty to do, but at least the mood in camp will have been boosted after the debacle against Ireland.
- Fiji (Previous rank: 15, up 3)
Fiji looked back to close to something near their best in the second half of their game against Georgia, as they raced through the gears and scored some excellent tries in testing conditions. It’s likely too late to save their quarter-final ambitions, but if they can replicate that showing against Wales, they will give the European side plenty to think about.
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1179654958246793217?s=20
- Georgia (Previous rank: 11, down 2)
Despite being competitive in the first half, Georgia’s game with Fiji was illuminating as to the Lelos’ position in the current global hierarchy. They were comfortably outmatched after the interval and weren’t able to impose their dominance at the scrum or in the tight as they would have liked. An upset win over Australia looks unlikely, although they retain a puncher’s chance.
- Tonga (Previous rank: 16, up 2)
Tonga were extremely unlucky not to take something out of their game with Argentina. Had Tomas Lavanini’s shoulder charge been called at the end of the first half in that game and a penalty try given, Tonga may well have come away with a bonus point or potentially even more. They dominated much of the second half and will have given themselves plenty to be confident about heading into their game with France.
- Samoa (Previous rank: 13, down 2)
Cracks that the win over Russia had papered over were quickly shown to still exist when Samoa met with Scotland on Monday. They were well beaten in all facets in that game and will need to be much better to trouble Japan on Saturday. Injuries and suspensions have not helped the Islanders.
- Uruguay (Previous rank: 14, down 2)
Uruguay’s 33-7 loss to a heavily rotated Georgian team was probably a fairer reflection of where they are right now than the upset win over Fiji, although they are a team that continues to do themselves credit at this Rugby World Cup. A number of individuals are standing out for Los Teros and the future does at least look relatively bright for the South Americans.
- USA (Previous rank: 17)
The Eagles were highly competitive against France on Wednesday and kept it to a one-score game until the 66th minute. Unfortunately for the USA, despite being dogged, resilient and frustrating a poor French side, they offered little in terms of attacking threat themselves. France left the door wide open and unfortunately Gary Gold’s side weren’t able to walk through it.
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1179329658749411333?s=20
- Russia (Previous rank: 19, up 1)
A second straight week of ranking rises for Russia, despite having lost all three of their games at the tournament so far. As they were against Japan and Samoa, Russia were competitive with Ireland for vast swathes of their game in Kobe, despite not having the cutting edge to really hurt the tier one side. They’ve won a lot of fans in their three defeats.
- Namibia (Previous rank: 18, down 1)
Namibia may have scored a few tries against Italy in their opener but there was far less for them to celebrate in an extremely one-sided loss to South Africa on Saturday. Their looming game with Canada is the crunch fixture for them in Pool B, in what has been a challenging group for the two tier two teams.
- Canada (Previous rank: 20)
Unfortunately for Kingsley Jones, his side retain bottom spot in these rankings, after they followed up their loss to Italy with a 63-0 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks. Canada actually did well to keep the score at under a point a minute, as New Zealand blew the North American side away in the first 20 minutes of both halves.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Jake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
34 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
34 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
9 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
34 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
9 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
9 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
11 Go to comments