World Rankings shocks: Wales take their place in history with All Blacks win

Wales’ heroic 35-28 win over the All Blacks in Cardiff on Saturday is being talked about in the same terms as the ‘Miracle of Brighton’, when Eddie Jones’ Japan downed the Springboks at Rugby World Cup 2015. Played more than a decade apart, it highlights how rare these types of results are in modern-day international rugby.

Japan were 10 places below the Springboks when they pulled off their giant-killing act, whereas eight places separated Wales in 10th from New Zealand in second before the kick-off in Cardiff.

However, in terms of the points differential between the sides, Wales hold the honour for causing the biggest upset, as there were 15.89 points between their rankings score and the All Blacks, compared to 12.97 between the 2015 protagonists.

For a match involving only major rugby nations, it is the biggest whatever metric is used. But there have been other instances, involving sides who have played at Rugby World Cups, where the winning team had to overcome an even bigger deficit.

Fresh from their exploits at RWC 2023, Portugal went into the 2024 Rugby Europe Championship on a high, albeit with an interim coach in place, and were humbled 10-6 by a Belgium team ranked 16 places and 18.20 points below them.

A couple of years before that, Zimbabwe came unstuck against Algeria in the Africa Nations Cup, losing 20-12. Zimbabwe went into the match ranked in 31st on 52.43 points, while Algeria were 76th on 36.25 points, a gap of 45 places and 16.18 points.

During qualifying for the 2019 World Cup, Tahiti shocked the Cook Islands 13-9 in Rarotonga in August 2017, defying a 43-place gap and a 15.32 points difference.

While the year before that, Brazil’s opened their Americas Rugby Championship account with a sensational 24-23 win over USA, who had gone into the match ranked 26 places and 20.55 points higher than Os Tupis.