World Rugby announce final world rankings of the season as series to decide everything
After a brutal run of 18 Test match defeats, which stretched all the way back to the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, Welsh fans were finally able to celebrate a victory earlier this month as Matt Sherratt's side overcame Japan in the second of two showdowns with Eddie Jones' men on tour.
That win not only got a sizeable monkey off the backs of all those involved with the national side, but also ensured that Wales moved back up the global rankings, having dropped to a humiliating record low of 14th in the world following their opening tour defeat to Japan, who leapfrogged Sherratt's side alongside Samoa.
READ MORE: Appalling England complaint upheld by World Rugby as investigation emerges
READ MORE: Steve Tandy named new Wales head coach in major WRU announcement: Live updates
The slip also meant that Wales briefly dropped into the third banding of seeds for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, the draw for which will be conducted in December this year. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
The tournament in two years' time has been expanded to include 24 teams, with all of the qualified teams to be confirmed before the draw takes place.
All of the qualified teams will be seeded based on their rankings at the end of this year's decisive autumn series, and with the competition comprising six pools of four teams, the seeding bands are broken down by every six teams.
That means the top six teams in the world would be top seeds for the tournament, with those between 7th and 12th in the second banding of seeds and so on.
Wales being outside of the global top 12 by the end of the autumn would likely prove disastrous, therefore, as they would be set to drawn in a 'pool of death' for the 2027 tournament with two of the world's top teams.
The win over Japan, however, means that they head into their autumn international campaign in 12th place, just 0.64 ranking points behind Georgia and 1.57 ahead of Samoa.
Wales could have dropped to 13th place had the Samoans recorded a shock victory over Scotland last weekend, but Gregor Townsend's side eased to a 12-41 win as they bounced back from their painful defeat to Fiji.
A tough run of games now awaits Wales in the autumn, with three of the world's top seven sides - Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa - all heading to Cardiff, while a third clash with Japan is also part of the schedule.
While it will depend on results elsewhere, a single win in the autumn could well be enough for Wales to remain in the world's top 12 teams and head into the next Rugby World Cup in the second banding of seeds.
Elsewhere in the new world rankings, New Zealand have moved within 0.72 ranking points of top spot, with their 29-19 win over France seeing them edge closer to the number one spot currently occupied by South Africa.
Defeat to the All Blacks has seen the French fall away from the global top three and closer to fifth-placed England, who now trail them by just 0.18 ranking points, while Scotland remain in eighth but move closer to Argentina in seventh after beating Samoa.
Spain and Chile have also had ranking point boosts but the only positional changes come further down the table, with Zimbabwe moving ahead of Canada after qualifying for their first Rugby World Cup since 1991, and the Netherlands leapfrogging Namibia.
The latest World Rugby rankings (July 21)
1South Africa
92.782New Zealand
92.06
(+0.34)
3Ireland
89.834France
87.82
(-0.34)
5England
87.646Australia
82.087Argentina
82.058Scotland
81.57
(+0.20)
9Fiji
80.5010Italy
77.7711Georgia
74.6912Wales
74.0513Samoa
72.48
(-0.20)
14Japan
72.2915Spain
69.12
(+0.20)
16USA
68.4517Uruguay
67.5218Portugal
66.4419Tonga
65.4620Chile
63.83
(+0.63)
21Romania
62.6722Belgium
61.2023Hong Kong China
59.9824
(↑26)
Zimbabwe
58.80
(+1.01)
25
(↓24)
Canada
57.75
(-0.20)
26
(↑27)
Netherlands
57.0127
(↓25)
Namibia
56.86
(-1.01)
28Brazil
55.90
(-0.63)
29Switzerland
55.2630Poland
54.06
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
I'm 100 per cent sure I couldn't make it as a professional golfer
Gareth Bale admitted he was '100 per cent sure' that he could not become a professional golfer. The former Real Madrid and Wales star is well known for his love of golf and has cut his handicap from 'three or four' to just 0.1 since retiring from football in January 2023. That has led to suggestions that Bale – who has played on the PGA Tour at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am where footage of him making a brilliant chip from a cart path went viral – could try and make it as a professional golfer, despite having turned 36 earlier this month. 'I'm fully, 100 per cent sure, I can not make it professionally,' Bale told BBC Wales ahead of this week's AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl. 'When you are in golf and you see professional golfers play, compared to even your best stuff, it is nowhere near. 'When I've played with those players and watched them, you really appreciate how good they actually are. 'Never mind just playing with your friends, they are doing it under the most severe pressure, in tournament conditions, in hard weather. 'So there won't be any professional (golf) for me. 'But I love the game. I love watching it, I love growing it.'
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hall eyes more success in Wales at Women's Open
Former champion Georgia Hall is hoping Wales will prove to be a happy hunting ground once more as she prepares for the AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl. England's Hall is the most recent British winner of the Women's Open having triumphed at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2018. The tournament comes to Wales for the first time this year as Royal Porthcawl plays host to the final golf major of 2025 starting on Thursday. And for Hall, that means a return to the scene of past successes. The 29-year-old won the Girls' Amateur Championship in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, in 2012 before going on to collect the Women's Amateur Championship at Machynys Golf Club in Carmarthenshire 12 months later. "Really I'm a big fan [of Wales]," Hall said. "I haven't played golf in Wales since those wins, so I think it will be a great test in Porthcawl." Porthcawl to host Women's Open in 2025 Open to be Wales' 'largest women's sporting event' The Women's Open is the biggest female sporting event ever staged in Wales, but Royal Porthcawl is no stranger to prestigious competitions. The south Wales links has staged the Walker Cup, the Curtis Cup and, on three occasions, the men's Senior Open. "I've played a couple of holes out here and it's a very tough course, I think it's definitely underrated," said Bournemouth-born Hall. "It's learning to know where to hit it. Especially on this golf course there's a lot of blind tee shots, so that will be key." Hall has won seven professional titles and is a five-time Solheim Cup player. Currently ranked 119th in the world, she is hoping the Women's Open will inspire the next generation of golfers. "It would be great to see the young girls supporting and seeing what the world's best women have to offer," she said. "I love to see a lot of people support, especially the youngsters. "I'm a massive fan of golf and what it can provide for the kids and people socialising and [helping] to make friends. It's great that people are learning to grow the game as well." Hall is also an advocate for the promotion of women's sport and wants to see increasing media coverage. "I think that having this event here and all the other women's sports [this summer] is amazing and hopefully in 10 years' time it will be bigger than it is now," she added.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Australia rugby boss seeks answers on controversial Lions try
Australian rugby boss Phil Waugh has demanded World Rugby explain a controversial decision by the referee to award the British and Irish Lions a series-clinching try in the second Test. Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt was fuming after the game in Melbourne on Saturday, adamant that Italian official Andrea Piardi got it wrong. Australia led for 79 minutes and were on the cusp of an upset when Hugo Keenan crossed at the death to seal an epic 29-26 comeback victory and the three-match series after the Lions won the first Test in Brisbane. Schmidt was adamant the try should not have stood, citing a high clean-out in the lead-up by Welsh flanker Jac Morgan on Carlo Tizzano. World Rugby rules state that contact made above the shoulders at the ruck is not allowed. Piardi reviewed the incident and ruled there was no foul play, but Rugby Australia chief executive Waugh backed Schmidt's interpretation. "We've got the utmost respect in respecting the referee's decision," Waugh told The Australian newspaper on Monday, adding that the Lions deserved praise for their comeback win. "But I do think there's a level of accountability and explanation that needs to come with that. And we look forward to that." In his post-match comments, Schmidt said the decision "doesn't really live up to the big player safety push" being made by World Rugby. "My response is absolutely identical to Joe's comments in the press conference," said Waugh. "I played professionally for 13 years and Joe's coached professionally for 20 years and both our views, and all those organisationally, are very aligned with what Joe talked to in that post-match press conference. "I look forward to World Rugby's response to it." According to reports, World Rugby's top brass are in Sydney this week ahead of the final Test and Waugh is scheduled to meet them. mp/dh
