Latest World Rugby rankings: Ireland and Scotland fall as Italy rise after stunning Six Nations start
Paolo Garbisi and Tommaso Menoncello of Italy and the World Rugby rankings
Following round one of the 2026 Six Nations, here’s how the World Rugby rankings have been influenced by the weekend’s results.
The opening game of the Championship produced the first change in the top 10, with only England’s comprehensive thrashing of Wales having no impact on the standings.
Fabien Galthie’s men kicked off their Six Nations title defence with a 36-14 victory at the Stade de France in Paris against Ireland on Thursday evening.
The action resumed on Saturday with Italy dominating the first half at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome to stun Scotland before England made light work of Wales at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
Changes in the top 10
South Africa and New Zealand were never under threat of losing their first and second-place rankings regardless of the results this weekend, but England could have fallen to as low as fifth in defeat to Wales.
However, Steve Borthwick’s men avoided that banana skin as they raced to a 29-0 half-time lead before pulling even further away in the second 40 to clinch a dominant 48-7 victory. That result did not earn England any rating points, nor did Wales lose any due to the 15.18 differential before home weighting was taken into consideration.
Ireland did slip from fourth to fifth in the world rankings in defeat to France as Les Bleus earned 1.16 rating points, the same amount that Ireland lost, which was enough to move up a position.
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They were not the only two teams to trade ranking places on Saturday, as Italy moved up ninth position and Scotland dropped to 10th courtesy of the 0.82 points the Azzurri gained from the 18-15 success in Rome.
Elsewhere, Spain earned 0.15 rating points but remained in 15th position after their 33-51 win over the Netherlands, who slipped down a place to 27th in the rankings – one spot below Namibia.
Wales and Japan will end the weekend in 11th and 12th place, respectively, as Georgia will not be rewarded in the rankings for a win over Switzerland on Sunday.
Latest World Rugby Rankings
(As of 07/02/2026 before Belgium v Portugal
1 South Africa 93.94
2 New Zealand 90.33
3 England 89.41
4 France 88.40 (+1.16)
5 Ireland 86.81 (-1.16)
6 Argentina 84.97
7 Australia 81.53
8 Fiji 81.14
9 Italy 79.81 (+0.82)
10 Scotland 79.40 (-0.82)
11 Wales 74.23
12 Japan 74.09
13 Georgia 73.18
14 Uruguay 69.19
15 Spain 69.16 (+0.15)
16 USA 68.26
17 Chile 66.72
18 Tonga 66.66
19 Samoa 66.43
20 Portugal 64.98
