World Rugby rankings: How the Bledisloe Cup will impact the standings as Wallabies could shake up top 10
World Rugby rankings ahead of the Bledisloe Cup.
Australia will rise to their highest position in almost five years in the World Rugby rankings should they hammer the All Blacks at Eden Park.
Under new boss Les Kiss, the Wallabies are unbeaten in five matches with four victories and a draw since the end of the Nations Championship.
They defeated Japan on successive weekends before overcoming Argentina 27-21 for a third triumph in a row.
Although they were denied a week later as a Los Pumas comeback resulted in a 28-28 draw, they warmed up for the Bledisloe Cup with a stunning success over the back-to-back world champion Springboks.
That 42-38 win has set up an opportunity for the Wallabies to potentially lift themselves into the top-four for the first time since November 2021.
They will have to make history to do that, with the All Blacks of course unbeaten at Eden Park since 1994, but they have found form at just the right time.
World ranking permutations
Simply avoiding defeat guarantees that Kiss’ men, who currently sit on 85.55 in sixth place, will rise above England into fifth.
However, it can get even better if they emerge triumphant by more than 15 points as that will put them on 87.89 and ahead of fourth place France.
Even a heavy defeat would not be catastrophic to their place in the standings with a loss by more than 15 still keeping them above Scotland by 0.11.
It is arguably the All Blacks who have most to lose over the next two weeks even if, like Australia, they can’t drop a place if they succumb on Saturday.
A reversal would see an end to their Eden Park record and bring them closer to Ireland, who are currently in third. If they were to lose heavily then just 0.71 would separate the two teams.
Dave Rennie’s side remain clear favourites to retain the Bledisloe Cup, though, and they are expected to get the job done, which would slightly close the gap on the Springboks at the top.
NEW ZEALAND (2) 91.15 v AUSTRALIA (6) 85.55
New Zealand win by 15 points or less – New Zealand 91.59, Australia 85.11
New Zealand win by more than 15 points – New Zealand 91.81, Australia 84.89
Draw – New Zealand 90.59, Australia 86.11
Australia win by 15 points or less – New Zealand 89.59, Australia 87.11
Australia win by more than 15 points – New Zealand 88.81, Australia 87.89
World Rugby men’s rankings
1 South Africa 93.09
2 New Zealand 91.15
3 Ireland 88.08
4 France 87.43
5 England 85.68
6 Australia 85.55
7 Scotland 84.78
8 Argentina 82.24
9 Japan 77.28
10 Fiji 76.81
11 Wales 76.38
12 Italy 76.30
13 Georgia 73.94
14 Portugal 69.39
15 USA 67.58
16 Chile 66.94
17 Spain 66.83
18 Uruguay 65.75
19 Tonga 65.14
20 Samoa 64.73