Northern | US

World Rankings get major Six Nations shake-up

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 21: Robert Baloucoune of Ireland scores his team's second try during the Guinness Six Nations 2026 match between England and Ireland at Allianz Stadium on February 21, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

Ireland and Scotland are the big winners in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings after the third round of the Six Nations.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ruthless Ireland have leapt up two places to third on the back of their record 42-21 win away to England, while Scotland have also climbed two places, moving up from ninth to seventh.

England’s defeat – their fifth heaviest at home – sends them back down to fifth, with France falling one place to fourth, as they did not receive any points for their hard-fought 33-8 win at home to Italy on Sunday and have been overtaken by Ireland.

VIDEO

Rugby World Cup 2027 hosts Australia have been demoted to eighth as a result of Scotland’s 26-23 success in Cardiff, while Fiji are down to ninth.

Wales are another team to lose ground, their reduced rating of 73.62 seeing them drop down to 12th.

The first three games of the third round of the Rugby Europe’s Men’s Championship had a minimal affect on the rankings, although Switzerland’s tremendous 29-23 win over the Netherlands sees the teams swap places.

Switzerland are now 27th, one place off their all-time best, while the Netherlands replace them in 28th.

ADVERTISEMENT

Reigning champions Georgia remain in 13th after their 42-30 win over Spain, who stay 15th.

Belgium beat Germany 18-3 but the result did not affect either teams position, with the Black Devils 23rd and the Black Eagles 31st.

Portugal play Romania on Sunday evening and the outcome of that match could result in changes.

Updated World Rankings – Top 15

1. South Africa – 93.94
2. New Zealand – 90.33
3. Ireland – 88.89
4. France – 88.40
5. England – 85.62
6. Argentina – 84.98
7. Scotland – 81.71
8. Australia – 81.53
9. Fiji – 81.14
10. Italy – 79.81
11. Japan – 74.09
12. Wales – 73.62
13. Georgia – 73.48
14. Uruguay – 69.19
15. Spain – 68.81

ADVERTISEMENT

*World Rugby will officially update the rankings at noon on Monday

Create your ticketing account and unlock presale access for Rugby World Cup 2027 now

ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

41 Comments
N
Nigel Nicholas 44 days ago

Bloody hell,hearing all the could've beens is funny..😂

Bro come and play in Fiji so we can improve our world ranking please

c
cw 44 days ago

What these ratings and the 6N shows is how foolish it is to assess a team by reference to one or two wins or losses. England beats ABs they are the best or No2 in world. Ireland loses to France and they are destined to drop out of top 5. England loses to Ireland and Scotland and they are goners (and the coach should be sacked). France win a couple at home and should be ranked above the ABs. Lets just see how they go against Scotland and England before we hand them the No2 mantle.

A
Acelyn 44 days ago

France is not 4th in the general leaderboard, she’s 3rd. She hasn’t been overtaken by Ireland, she largely won against them during the first match… I don’t know where those informations come from, but it appears to be false, at least regarding France.


This is really surprising coming from World Rugby.

O
OutRun22 44 days ago

lol pretty hilarious Irish run IRB have Ireland in at 3rd. Loved to see that win though great game. ugh my nz being ahead of France is not crazy but its off they should swap places imo. As long as S.A have TB with them they will stay n0.1 imo they are just too strong with excellent players and excellent duo of Erasmus and Tony Brown.

P
PB 44 days ago

TB is great for the Boks. The real unsung hero in the Boks coaching team is Daan Human. His coaching of the forwards gives TB the platform iff which his plays can be launched.

And of course the master strategist is Rassie himself

C
CW 44 days ago

Remember the ranking makes older games dissipate in terms of its contribution to the rankings, but carries about a year long legacy in terms of having an effect on the current status. I reckon based on current form and the most tests we’ve seen from each nation (Grated that the South Hemisphere haven’t played in 3 months) the Springboks and France should be 1 and 2, and even as a Springbok fan I have to admit that France is currently much better than the team we beat in November 2025.


New Zealand is inconsistent but still in the top 3 I feel, England upwards curve took a knock 2 weeks in a row, and Ireland actually looks like they are on the rise.

E
Eric Elwood 44 days ago

I think whenever World Rankings are mentioned people should be aware of the slight of hand perpetrated in the Nations Championship. Despite all the talk of growing a global game, rankings are not used to decide who competes, rather the nations who already benefit from the 6 nations and Rugby Champs are locked in again.

Georgia who have being banging their heads against the ceiling for years and a rising big nation like Spain are locked out of the Nation Championship.

Why not use world rankings to determine the top 12?


NB** Fair enough use the tournaments to set the teams for the first iteration but thereafter use world rankings.

J
JM 44 days ago

There is a lot of rugby left to play in this 6N. Wales could easily have won that game against Scotland. France have to go to Murrayfield and England could discover their Mojo in Paris…..this is why it’s the best rugby tournament in the world!!

C
CW 44 days ago

Wait so the motivation on why this is the best rugby tournament in the world is because; 1. France go to Murrayfield (Which they do every 2nd year), 2. and England “could” (Let’s say its a 50:50) discover their mojo next weekend?


Two great arguments, I’m sold.

W
Willardi 45 days ago

The numbers don’t lie. The 6N has always been a great tournament but relegation needs to be considered. Complacency is inevitable with no jeopardy. Same With the Championship. Focus the mind if Japan or Fiji would be promoted.

P
PE 43 days ago

I wonder how much interest the broadcasters would have had in the 2014 6 Nations if relegation existed in 2013? It is a noble and honourable notion, but Georgia cannot replace any of the existing 6 in terms of sponsorship contributions and fan engagement especially if they are yoyoing between championships

E
Eric Elwood 44 days ago

Note the Nations Champs was the easiest to get right but they locked the “tournament” teams in again.

J
John Breslin 45 days ago

Not awarding points for beating Italy at home is a huge insult to the Italians.


They are far from walkovers

E
Eric Elwood 44 days ago

The formula does need refining. France get added 3 points to their rankings for a home draw which put then more than 10 ahead of Italy and outside the calculation zone. It needs refinement.


Another big issue is that the rankings are only used for world cup draws.

We have a brand new tournament, the Nations Cup, which could have used World Rankings but chose not to.

J
JohnS 45 days ago

Due to France being much higher then them in rankings they cannot take points from them. It’s all about the math.

r
rmcg20 45 days ago

france are much too low

R
Rabble 45 days ago

“Northern hemisphere” France are too low, yes. But “southern hemisphere” France is why their ranking is low.


Their old results on their southern tours no doubt are still having an impact on their ranking score. e.g. lost their last tour to Australia (2-1), lost to NZ (3-0 - with 1 match over 15 points), drew with Argentina (1-1). Also lost badly to SA at the end of 2025 (as did NZ.. but they also beat them the week before).

D
DT 45 days ago

Yeah they are at least 2nd in world

Load More Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Close
ADVERTISEMENT