All Blacks drop to third in World Rankings

NEWS: New Zealand’s 11-12 defeat in the final of the World Cup will cost the All Blacks second place in the World Rankings.

Ian Foster’s side are set to lose 1.76 points and their new rating of 89.80 points will see them swap places with Ireland who began the weekend in third.

South Africa are due to remain at number one but with an improved rating of 94.54 points, meaning their advantage at the top will increase to 1.75 points.

Having gained an almost identical amount of points for their 26-23 bronze final victory over Argentina, England closed the gap on the top four but will still be fifth, 2.27 points behind France.

Argentina will remain in seventh place, fractionally ahead of Wales, with a reduced rating of 80.68 points.

Away from RWC 2023, the Rugby Europe Trophy season began with a 48-37 win for Sweden against Czechia.

Sweden’s second victory over Czechia in as many years will lift them above Tunisia and Paraguay into 37th place, while Czechia will remain in 35th.

Bulgaria’s 40-24 win over Turkey in Pool C of the Rugby Europe Conference won’t have any impact on the rankings as the winning team had a rating 12.41 points superior to that of their opponents before home advantage was factored in.

The Victoria Cup also kicked off at the weekend, Uganda winning 30-8 against Zambia at the King’s Park Arena in Kampala on Saturday.

Uganda’s rating of 42.75 points remains unaltered by the result and they stay in 42nd, while Zambia are 26 places further back in 68th.