World Rankings: Boks safe at the top as the north battles it out
NEWS: World Rugby has revealed the ranking permutations for this weekend’s second rounds of the Six Nations and the Rugby Europe Men’s Championship.
The back-to-back World Cup champions, the Springboks, are sitting pretty at the top of the table as none of the teams can gain enough points to overthrow them.
The All Blacks are also comfortable at number two, as England cannot go any higher than third this weekend.
A loss for England, though, will see them surrender third place to France if Les Bleus beat Wales in Cardiff.
France and Ireland cannot improve their rating with victories over Wales and Italy respectively, meaning England are untouchable in third if they avoid defeat in Scotland.
Ireland can reclaim fourth place from France in one of two scenarios: if they draw and France lose by more than 15 points, or if they win and France are beaten.
However, a second defeat of the 2026 Six Nations will see Ireland fall another place to sixth, with Argentina the beneficiaries.
A win for Italy will lift them above both Fiji and Australia, but could also take them to a record high of seventh if Scotland do not beat England.
The Azzurri will climb to seventh regardless if they win by more than 15 points.
Scotland can surge up three places to seventh if they beat England by more than 15 points and Italy win by a smaller margin in Dublin.
Wales cannot improve on 11th position whether they win, lose or draw against France.
Georgia, Portugal and Spain cannot improve their ratings with Rugby Europe Men’s Championship victories over the lower-ranked Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland.
The Lelos will remain 13th, whatever happens in Amsterdam, but Spain and Portugal will each fall one place if beaten, with the USA and Samoa the respective beneficiaries.
Germany will return to the top 30 of the rankings if it can follow their upset of Romania with another by beating Portugal.
Romania and Belgium will swap places if the Oaks can beat the side sitting above them in 21st. However, a second defeat in the competition for Romania could see them drop as low as 26th.
The Netherlands can jump three places to 24th if they can end Georgia’s record 39-match unbeaten run in the competition.
A new high of 22nd is possible if the Dutch win by more than 15 points and Belgium lose by the same margin to Romania.
Switzerland could also reach a new high of 25th if they can upset Spain.
