Rugby World Rankings - Are the Springboks #1?

Rugby Union World Rankings give fans and league administrators an idea of where you sit against other leagues worldwide. So, for seeded matches—like the Rugby World Cup—you can enter a tournament a point (or two) behind before you even start.

What Are Rugby World Rankings?

World Rugby maintains the Rugby World Rankings and compares teams head to head historically through wins and losses, draws, and where other teams finish in tournaments. The Rugby World Rankings are used for seeding in international tournaments.

World Rugby Rankings

These numbers are changing as lower-ranked and up-and-coming teams beat the teams who were previously favourites.

How Are Rugby World Rankings Calculated?

These are calculated by a points system that considers wins and losses, margin of victory/defeat, and home or away. The more games played in a season, the more stable this ranking becomes as the points are tallied in real-time based on each team’s history against each opponent.

Recent Changes in the Rugby Union World Rankings

The Rugby Union world rankings are affected by every big international and test match. For example, if France and Ireland are doing well in the Six Nations Cup, they could move above them on the rankings list.

If England and Australia had lost big in their last games, they would have dropped in the rankings. These rankings are fluid and reflect the latest results of the top national teams in competitive play.

Importance of World Rugby Rankings

Ranking plays a pivotal role in rugby, from setting up Rugby World Cup seedings and match-ups to inspiring teams to improve their rank and maintaining competitiveness for international rugby.

Challenges and Criticisms of Rugby Rankings

The rankings have been criticized for giving too many points for beating lower-ranked teams and not enough opportunities for Tier 2 teams to move up the rankings.