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The World Rugby Ranking of Men's National Rugby Teams, formerly known as the IRB (International Rugby Board) Ranking, was created in 2003. It is used to compare national men's rugby union teams.es
Latest update: 2023-09-07
Each national team has a number of points between 0 and 100, with 0 being the lowest value and the top ranked team often having a number of points between 89 and 95. The evolution of the ranking is linked to the point exchange system: at each international match, the winning team takes a certain number of points from the losing team. If the winning team is lower ranked before the match or if it wins by a large margin (15 points or more), then it can gain more points, up to a maximum of 2 points for a single match. Finally, it should be noted that matches in the Rugby World Cup finals, a competition held every four years, are worth double.
Yes, the French rugby team was once #1 in the IRB rankings and therefore considered the "best team in the world". But this has only happened once: on July 11, 2022, after their victory against Japan and taking advantage of the defeat of the All-Blacks of New Zealand and South Africa, France climbed to the top of the ranking. However, Ireland dethroned France less than 10 days later with two wins over New Zealand on a summer tour.
Before that date, France's best IRB ranking had been second place in 2007, notably after the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France and the victory over the New Zealand team in the quarterfinals (20-18). Other European teams have reached the first place: in 2019, Wales, Ireland and England have successively occupied this place.
The World Rugby Ranking is the official name of the world ranking, created in 2003 and initially named International Rugby Board. Despite the name change, the term 'IRB Rankings' is still widely used, both in the media and by rugby fans.
See also: women's rugby world rankings