World Rankings: Second spot up for grabs, England could fall to 7-year low
Springboks' Eben Etzebeth, Australia's Quade Cooper and England's Marcus Smith.
Ahead of the round two of the Rugby Championship, we take a look at how this weekend’s results could impact the World Rugby rankings, with the All Blacks and Springboks clashing in Auckland while the Wallabies host Los Pumas in Western Sydney.
Round one had no positional effect on the World Rugby rankings despite big wins for South Africa and New Zealand.
However, this weekend’s action could have a negative effect on both England and France’s ranking, depending on the results of two the Rugby Championship clashes.
Tight at the top of the world rankings
Second place is up for grabs for New Zealand, but they would need to defeat South Africa by more than 15 points to move ahead of France.
A victory of that margin would see the All Blacks cut Ireland’s lead at the top to just 1.19 ranking points, while South Africa would not fall from fourth place in this case.
Jacques Nienaber’s side have a comfortable cushion between them and fifth-placed Scotland, and in the event of a heavy defeat, they would still lead the Scots by at least 5.26 points.
However, if South Africa defeat the All Blacks will be the higher-ranked nation of the two and could end the weekend ranked as high as second.
A victory of 15 points or less will move them into third place, swapping spots with New Zealand, while a win of 16 points or more would see them move ahead of France and move within 0.79 points of top-ranked Ireland.
Ireland’s top spot is safe this weekend, while France can only drop as low as third. Regardless of the results, Scotland cannot improve on their fifth-placed ranking.
Fun fact: South Africa are unbeaten in their last two matches against the All Blacks in New Zealand (W1, D1), having won 36-34 in September 2018 and drawn 16-16, also in Wellington, in July 2019.
Australia v Argentina
Lower down in the table, and Argentina could move as high as sixth with a victory over more than 15 points over Australia.
If Los Pumas were successful in doing so, they would move ahead of seventh-placed Australia and sixth-placed England claiming their highest position since November last year.
A smaller margin of victory for Argentina would see England retain sixth place, but Steve Borthwick’s side drop to a seven-year low in the case of a draw or an Australian win.
The last time England were ranked as low as seventh was in February 2016 at the start of Eddie Jones’ tenure as head coach.
A loss for Argentina will not see them drop any lower than their present position of eighth.
The remainder of the top 20 will remain unchanged this weekend, with Wales and Japan remaining 9th and 10th, respectively.
Georgia, Samoa, Fiji, Italy, Tonga, Portugal, Uruguay, USA, Romania and Spain round out the top 20.
Fun fact: Argentina won by a record score (48-17) and margin (31) when the sides last met in The Rugby Championship in 2022, but Los Pumas haven’t beaten the Wallabies in the last five encounters on Australian soil, drawing twice in that time (15-15 and 16-16 in the 2020 Tri-Nations).
Current World Rugby rankings (as of 15/07/2023)
1. Ireland 91.82
2. France 90.47
3. New Zealand 89.69
4. South Africa 88.97
5. Scotland 82.77
6. England 82.12
7. Australia 81.80
8. Argentina 80.01
9. Wales 78.08
10. Japan 77.39
11. Georgia 76.23
12. Samoa 76.03
13. Fiji 74.84
14. Italy 74.63
15. Tonga 71.21
16. Portugal 67.62
17. Uruguay 66.24
18. USA 65.92
19. Romania 65.8
20. Spain 64.05
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