USA and Wales see World Rugby rankings bump after big WXV wins

Big wins over the weekend have seen both the USA Women’s Eagles and Wales climb the World Rugby rankings.

Jack Hanratty’s USA have surged two places up the rankings thanks to their 40-36 win against Ireland.

The result against a higher-ranked opponent has lifted the Eagles above Scotland and Italy into sixth, one place behind Sunday’s WXV Global Series opponents, Ireland.

At Tallaght Stadium the USA overcame a 19-point deficit to stun Scott Bemand’s side in Dublin with a second-half brace from Kathryn Treder, as well as tries for Hallie Taufoou and Freda Tafuna.

Combined with the unerring accuracy of Bella Vogel from the kicking tee, they beat their hosts for the first time since 2018 and now enter this weekend’s clash with Wales in Cardiff as the sixth-ranked team in the world.

Italy, who beat Japan 55-21 in Pordenone on Saturday, have dropped one spot to seventh and Scotland have moved down to eighth.

Wales’ Friday night win has seen Sean Lynn’s side climb two places to 12th.

It was only a fortnight ago that the team dropped to their lowest-ever position of 13th in the rankings after Fiji’s 15-12 win against Japan saw the Pacific Islanders move up to 12th.

To start their WXV Global Series campaign on a high, Wales beat 10th-ranked South Africa 50-19 beneath the Friday night lights at Cardiff Arms Park.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by World Rugby (@worldrugby)

The win saw Lynn’s team claim their first Test win in 14 months and just the head coach’s second since he took charge of the team in 2025. Sisilia Tuipulotu scored two tries in the win, as Courtney Keight, Seren Lockwood, Maisie Davies, Kelsey Jones, Lisa Neumann and Alex Callender also crossed the whitewash.

Beating the higher-ranked opponent means that Wales have moved past Fiji and Japan to 12th place. This Saturday, in their second WXV Global Series fixture, Wales will host the USA in Cardiff. Given how both teams performed this past weekend, the fixture has immediately become an intriguing encounter.

The USA and Wales were the only teams to move up the rankings. Elsewhere in WXV Global Series, England drew with Canada, New Zealand beat Scotland 66-14 and France completed a comeback win against Australia.

At WXV Global Series Challenger, Spain beat Samoa 61-21, Fiji beat Hong Kong China 54-26 and the Netherlands squeezed past Brazil 17-15.