SA rise in the Rugby World Rankings

England have dropped to fifth in the latest World Rugby Rankings while Scotland have climbed back into the top ten.

With one match to go before the start of Rugby World Cup 2015, the hosts have fallen below South Africa following their 25-20 defeat to France in Paris on Saturday and now in danger of going into the tournament ranked lower than Pool A rivals Australia and Wales.

Stuart Lancaster's men are now just 1.3 points ahead of sixth-placed Wales, who travel to Dublin to play Ireland on Saturday. England conclude their RWC 2015 warm-up campaign against the Irish the following weekend.

It may not have been the prettiest of wins but Scotland’s 16-12 victory over Italy in Turin was enough to see them move from 12th to 10th, climbing above Tonga and Samoa, after gain a full rating point.

Japan climb up one place to 14th at the expense of Italy even though their 30-8 win against Uruguay did not come with any boost to their rating.

The Brave Blossoms remain on 71.15 points while Italy, on 70.84 points, are marginally better off in the rankings than the USA (70.36), who made it three wins in a row against neighbours Canada with a 41-23 victory in Ottawa. Canada’s fifth straight loss cost them 1.27 ratings points but they remain 18th, two places behind the Eagles.

World Rugby Rankings:

1 New Zealand - 92.89
2 Ireland - 86.89
3 Australia - 86.67
4 South Africa - 85.15 
5 England - 84.24
6 Wales - 82.94
7 France - 80.90
8 Argentina - 78.39
9 Fiji - 77.04
10 Scotland - 75.79
11 Tonga - 75.25     
12 Samoa - 75.14     
13 Georgia- 72.16     
14 Japan - 71.15     
15 Italy - 70.84     
16 USA - 70.36     
17 Romania - 66.73     
18 Canada - 63.28     
19 Uruguay -62.11 
20 Namibia -61.85

With thanks to World Rugby

As teams are testing players the rankings don't really reflect much so close to the RWC.

Merci le bleus?

You can always rely on the French  

The French, AB experience with Le Blues has not always been positive. Perhaps it is best if they continue to trouble the English.

I hope ou brycy notes where Fiji, Samoa and Tonga are on the rankings. If one believed brycy these are the teams who will be fighting to lift the RWC!. Ou brycy's grip on reality is tenuous to put it politely! BWHAHAHAHA

 Beeno: good that you are keeping an eye on the Samoans, Fijians & the Tongans, you will need to. I am sure Brycy will accept your thanks once the Boks bite the dust.

Fourth is still very humiliating.... for 2 time WC winners


We all suspect that the Pacific Islands are capable of upsets...but at the end of the day its the top 4 that will win the finals...Tonga has taken it close against finalists...SA in 2007 and France in 2011 not to mention Georgia against Ireland in 2007 (although Ireland never made it to any finals that year, nevertheless they were 6 N winners...maybe its just a matter of time.

I follow Georgian rugby ENC winners (most of you don't have a clue about Lelos rugby)...they have beaten both Samoa and Tonga in preliminary games...some believe they will take out Tonga and can clip even the Pumas in their pool..Argentina probably will send in their B team and be complacent...afterall they have nailed Argentina Jaguars twice...

They are a very small country and poor but their players are as fit and tough as leather and a lot of them do the French circuit.

 ... Bean Brain considering Fiji was sitting 16th only three years ago, their rise has been meteoric....wasn't that long ago Tonga was sitting in 20th spot either...we won't mention Pool B favourites Samoa though will we coz we don't want to aggravate any heart conditions...

 brycy my good friend it saddens me to see you loosing your grip on reality! 
See a shrink and have your delusions shrunk! All this unwise chest beating is not helping your attempts to appear here as a sane reasonable poster (An impossble task in any event! JW facing the same problem. )