Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

The World Rugby ranking places at stake on eve of Six Nations

Injured Ireland players James Ryan, left, and Robbie Henshaw before the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final match between Ireland and New Zealand at the Stade de France in Paris, France. (Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

World Rugby rankings No.2 side Ireland could narrow the gap with South Africa in the world rugby rankings to just 2.43 points from the current 3.97 if they secure a victory of more than 15 points against France in Marseille this Friday.

ADVERTISEMENT

A defeat however would relegate the defending Guinness Men’s Six Nations champions to third with New Zealand set to move up.

France faces a critical match where only a win by more than 15 points will enhance their standing moving them up to third and causing Ireland to fall to fourth. Despite the stakes a heavy loss on home ground will not affect Les Bleus’ fourth position due to England’s potential maximum gain of 0.52 points from their match against Italy in Rome which could narrow their deficit to France to just 0.30 rating points.

England’s position is also precarious as failure to win in Rome coupled with a Scottish victory in Cardiff could see them drop to sixth behind Scotland. Scotland on their part could end a 22-year drought with a win in Cardiff and even a draw would suffice if Italy secures their first victory over England by more than 15 points.

Wales has the opportunity to surpass Argentina and move into seventh with a significant win needed to also overtake Scotland. Italy aims for a historic win over England which would propel them into ninth above Fiji and Australia marking their first top 10 ranking since June 2013.

In other matches neither Georgia nor Portugal can gain points this weekend in their respective matches against lower-rated Germany and Belgium. However shock defeats would result in a drop of at least two places for either team. Spain could overtake Romania for 19th with a win over the Netherlands dependent on the match’s margin and Romania’s performance against Poland.

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins
3
Draws
0
Wins
2
Average Points scored
23
27
First try wins
60%
Home team wins
60%

The Netherlands could improve to 26th with a victory over Spain marking their first test in 10 months. Poland could also ascend in the rankings with a win over Romania and further gains are possible depending on Germany’s outcome against Georgia.

ADVERTISEMENT

In a notable African rivalry Senegal and Algeria a win for Algeria in France could see them climb at least five places achieving a new high. A more significant victory of over 15 points would drastically close the ranking gap between them and Senegal with the latter dropping to 64th and Algeria ascending to 69th. Despite potential victories Senegal’s ranking position is capped by the maximum points on offer.

Related

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

9 Comments
P
Pecos 314 days ago

The France 6N win now makes Ireland the heavy favourites to win RWC2027 too. So AH-MAY-ZING, so AH-MAY-ZING zom-om-bee zom-om-bee zom-om-bee-bee-bee-bee-beeeee . . .

B
Bob Marler 315 days ago

Ah. The usual “Ireland no.1” narrative.

Load More Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

LONG READ
LONG READ Top 100: The unluckiest players not to make the list Top 100: The unluckiest players not to make the list
Search