World Rugby rankings: The impact of France thrashing Ireland as Wales target a return to the top 10
France fly-half Matthieu Jalibert and the latest World Rugby rankings.
France are the first team to improve on their World Rugby ranking in 2026, following their 36-14 hammering of Ireland in the opening game of the Six Nations.
Fabien Galthie’s side thundered to victory at the Stade de France on Thursday evening, courtesy of tries from Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2), Matthieu Jalibert, Charles Ollivon and Theo Attissogbe.
The result has seen Les Bleus move up to fourth place in the World Rugby rankings, ahead of Ireland, who drop to fifth, ahead of the other two Six Nations matches.
A victory for France was always going to result in them moving ahead of Ireland in the rankings, but the 22-point winning margin earned them a maximum of the +1.16 rating points that were on offer.
England under threat
It’s possible that France could move up to third in the rankings by the end of the weekend, as they have drawn within 1.01 rating points of England.
Steve Borthwick’s men host Wales at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham on Saturday, and a defeat to Steve Tandy’s men will see them drop in the rankings.
If England and Wales draw their Six Nations opener, the former would hold onto third place in the rankings by the slimmest of margins, 0.01 rating points. However, a defeat by 15 points or less will see them fall to fourth, with France benefiting. A loss by a greater margin will see them plummet to fifth spot, which would mean that Ireland hold onto fourth and France going to third place.
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England cannot improve their rating with a victory over Wales due to the 15.18 points differential before home weighting is taken into consideration. It is therefore not possible for England to catch New Zealand in second place or South Africa in first.
Meanwhile, Scotland will drop to 10th and be overtaken by Italy if they lose to the Azzurri in Rome. Ninth place is the highest that Italy can climb to this weekend.
A win will lift Scotland above Fiji into eighth place, but they will also leapfrog Australia if the winning margin is more than 15 points.
Wales can only return to the top 10 if they beat England by more than 15 points and Italy are beaten by the same margin at home.
Latest World Rugby Rankings
As of 06/02/2026
1 South Africa 93.94
2 New Zealand 90.33
3 England 89.41
4 (↑1) France 88.40 (+1.16)
5 (↑1) Ireland 86.81 (-1.16)
6 Argentina 84.97
7 Australia 81.53
8 Fiji 81.14
9 Scotland 80.22
10 Italy 78.98
11 Wales 74.23
12 Japan 74.09
13 Georgia 73.18
14 Uruguay 69.19
15 Spain 69.01
16 USA 68.26
17 Chile 66.72
18 Tonga 66.66
19 Samoa 66.43
20 Portugal 64.98
