World Rankings: Six Nations trio have All Blacks in their sights

While South Africa’s position at the top of the World Rugby Men’s Rankings is safe until the Nations Championship begins in July, New Zealand’s hold on second place is being threatened by the chasing Six Nations pack.

The coach-less All Blacks currently have a 1.93-point buffer over third-placed France, and cannot be overtaken this weekend as Les Bleus won’t receive any points for a win at home to Italy, while England and Ireland, in fourth and fifth, have too much ground to make up.

However, the gap between the All Blacks and the rest will be reduced if the match at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, ends in a blowout scoreline either way.

An England win by 16 points or more would increase their rating to 88.62 points, leaving them 1.71 points behind the All Blacks, whose rating is 90.33.

England will reclaim third place from France if they bounce back from their Murrayfield failure and win this Saturday, and Les Bleus fail to do likewise against Italy.

Meanwhile, an Ireland win by a similarly big margin will see the All Blacks’ advantage cut even further. Andy Farrell’s side will get 2.08 points added to their rating, which will increase to 88.89 points, therefore leaving them 1.44 points in arrears.

Ireland will leapfrog France and replace England in third if they do manage to repeat the 32-15 scoreline from their 2022 visit to English Rugby’s HQ.

Reigning champions France will fall at least one place if they come unstuck and are beaten by Italy, or two, depending on the margin and the result of the England vs Ireland match.

An all-time high of seventh is within Italy’s grasp if they can upset France with a win by more than 15 points and Scotland fail to match that margin against Wales.

Scotland will move up two places with a win over Wales, who will drop below Japan to 12th in defeat.

Wales could fall an additional place, below Georgia, but that depends on the outcome of their game and the Lelos’ fixture at home to Spain.

For that to happen, a defeat for Wales would need to be combined with a win for Georgia, with one of the margins being 16 points or more.

Italy aren’t the only team chasing a historic high this weekend. If Spain end Georgia’s 40-match unbeaten run in the Rugby Europe Men’s Championship with a win of 16 points or more, Los Leones will overtake the Lelos and Uruguay and move up to an all-time best position of 13th.

Current World Rankings – Top 12

1. South Africa – 93.94
2. New Zealand – 90.33
3. France – 88.40
4. England – 87.71
5. Ireland – 86.81
6. Argentina – 84.98
7. Australia – 81.53
8. Fiji – 81.14
9. Scotland – 81.01
10. Italy – 79.81
11. Wales – 74.24
12. Japan – 74.09