The World Rugby Rankings have taken on added importance this year given their role in devising the seedings for the Rugby World Cup 2027 Draw, which can be watched live from Sydney on RugbyPass TV this Wednesday (09:00 GMT).
Take England, for example. They started the year on the back foot, lying in seventh after an underwhelming set of results in 2024, and outside of the top band and facing a tougher RWC 2027 pool unless things improved.
And improve they did. Steve Borthwick’s side are currently on an 11-match winning run, dating back to the very first game of the year, a 27-22 defeat to Ireland in Dublin, and have surged up to third in the world, securing their place in the top band of seeds as a result.
While Chile have matched England’s four-place rise up the rankings in 2025, going from 21st at the start of the year to an all-time high of 17th, none of the teams who’ve qualified for RWC 2027 have added as many points to their rating as England.
England kicked off the year with a rating of 82.31 points and that has soared to 89.41 – an increase of 7.1 points. Chile’ rating went up by exactly five points to 66.72, which was enough for them to climb into band three for their second Rugby World Cup.
Like Chile, 14th-ranked Uruguay are currently at their highest-ever position, having gained three places, while fast-improving Spain have moved from 18th to 15th, after gains of 2.13 and 3.03 points, respectively.
On the flipside, Samoa started 2025 ranked 14th and with designs on a place in band two. However, a winless Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup campaign and a series of RWC qualifier failures led to the Pacific Islanders falling five places to a record low of 19th, putting them in band four for Wednesday’s draw.
The spectacular loss of 6.25 points from their rating is unmatched by any team in the world’s top 25. Portugal, however, have retreated alarmingly, with the euphoria of their successful RWC 2023 campaign well and truly extinguished.
Os Lobos had to settle for a disappointing fourth place in the Rugby Europe Men’s Championship and have continued to struggle since, leading to a four-place fall to 20th and the loss of 3.84 points.
Higher up, Ireland and France were the only teams in band one to lose both places and points. Having entered the year second only to South Africa, Ireland are down to fourth with 2.81 points knocked off their rating, which now stands at 87.97 points. Six Nations Grand Slam winners France have fallen to fifth with a revised rating of 87.24 points.
World Rankings changes – Jan 1, 2025 to now
| POSN | TEAM | START | END | DIFF |
| 1 (-) | S AFRICA | 92.78 | 93.94 | +1.16 |
| 2 (+1) | N ZEALAND | 90.33 | 90.36 | +0.03 |
| 3 (+4) | ENGLAND | 82.31 | 89.41 | +7.1 |
| 4 (-2) | IRELAND | 90.78 | 87.97 | -2.81 |
| 5 (-1) | FRANCE | 88.51 | 87.24 | -1.27 |
| 6 (-1) | ARGENTINA | 84.97 | 84.97 | 0 |
| 7 (+1) | AUSTRALIA | 81.52 | 81.53 | +0.01 |
| 8 (+1) | FIJI | 80.07 | 81.14 | +1.07 |
| 9 (-3) | SCOTLAND | 83.34 | 80.22 | -3.12 |
| 10 (-) | ITALY | 78.64 | 78.98 | +0.34 |
| 11 (-) | WALES | 74.01 | 74.23 | +0.22 |
| 12 (+1) | JAPAN | 72.95 | 74.09 | +1.14 |
| 13 (-1) | GEORGIA | 73.85 | 73.18 | -0.67 |
| 14 (+3) | URUGUAY | 67.06 | 69.19 | +2.13 |
| 15 (+3) | SPAIN | 65.98 | 69.01 | +3.03 |
| 16 (-1) | USA | 70.02 | 68.26 | -1.76 |
| 17 (+4) | CHILE | 61.72 | 66.72 | +5.00 |
| 18 (+1) | TONGA | 65.46 | 66.66 | +1.20 |
| 19 (-5) | SAMOA | 72.68 | 66.43 | -6.25 |
| 20 (-4) | PORTUGAL | 68.82 | 64.98 | -3.84 |
| 21 (+7) | BELGIUM | 56.51 | 62.32 | +5.81 |
| 22 (-2) | ROMANIA | 63.01 | 61.5 | -1.51 |
| 23 (-1) | HK CHINA | 59.49 | 59.61 | +0.12 |
| 24 +2) | ZIMBABWE | 57.16 | 58.8 | +1.64 |
| 25 (-2) | CANADA | 59.18 | 58.76 | -0.42 |