World Rankings: Georgia climb above Italy after stunning win over Spain

Jared Wright 20 Feb 2023 6:15 AM

Georgia are closing in on their highest-ever World Rugby ranking after surpassing Italy in the latest update, following their victory over Spain.

While the Six Nations paused this past weekend, the Rugby Europe Championship was in full swing with four Tests taking place, which notably impacted the rankings.

Italy fall

Georgia dispatched Spain 41-3 in Torrelavega, with the Spaniards missing several top players for the fixture. Regardless, the win sees Georgia move into 12th place on the world rankings, swapping places with Italy, who drop to 13th.

The Lelos now have 11th-placed Samoa in their sights as they sit just eight-hundredths of a point away from displacing the Samoans and claiming their highest-ever ranking.

Spain’s defeat sees them drop one place to 17th in the rankings, with Uruguay also falling one to 18th.

Portugal climb

Meanwhile, Portugal moved up two places from 18th to 16th after producing a superb second-half performance to beat Romania 38-20.

The victory in Lisbon, combined with Spain’s heavy defeat, resulted in the two-place jump and now sees Portugal equal their highest ranking place of 16th.

Romania cling onto 20th place in the rankings with 2.85 points still separating them from Namibia below them.

There was further movement outside the top 20, with the Netherlands moving up a place to 28th in the rankings after a 33-29 victory over Germany. The defeat sees the Germans drop three spots into 34th. Korea, Zimbabwe and Kenya all moved up a place each due to Germany’s fall.

Finally, Poland claimed their maiden Rugby Europe Championship win, defeating Belgium 21-15. That saw them move from 30th to 29th in the rankings while Belgium slipped one spot below Brazil into 27th.

Latest World Rugby rankings (as of 20/02/2023)

1. Ireland 91.33
2. France 89.38
3. New Zealand 88.98
4. South Africa 88.97
5. Scotland 83.36
6. England 82.27
7. Australia 81.80
8. Argentina 80.72
9. Wales 78.73
10. Japan 77.39
11. Samoa 76.03
12. Georgia 75.94
13. Italy 75.83
14. Fiji 74.84
15. Tonga 71.21
16. Portugal 66.94
17. Spain 66.42
18. Uruguay 66.24
19. USA 65.92
20. Romania 64.45

Georgia