IRB World Rankings

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: 2023-02-11

Rank	Team	Points
1	Ireland	90.7
2	France	90.01
3	New Zealand	88.98
4	South Africa	88.97
5	Scotland	83.06
6	England	82.15
7	Australia	81.8
8	Argentina	80.72
9	Wales	78.02
10	Japan	77.39
11	Samoa	76.03
12	Italy	75.95
13	Georgia	75.19
14	Fiji	74.84
15	Tonga	71.21
16	Spain	67.17
17	Uruguay	66.24
18	Portugal	65.97
19	United States	65.92
20	Romania	64.79
21	Namibia	61.6
22	Chile	60.89
23	Canada	60.46
24	Hong Kong	59.66
25	Russia	58.06
26	Belgium	55.97
27	Brazil	55.23
28	Switzerland	53.8
29	Netherlands	53.12
30	Poland	53.03
31	Germany	52.79
32	Republic of Korea	52.62
33	Zimbabwe	52.43
34	Kenya	51.79
35	Czech Republic	50.26
36	Ukraine	49.61
37	Colombia	48.69
38	Tunisia	48.55
39	Paraguay	48.14
40	Lithuania	48.09
41	Sweden	48.06
42	Philippines	47.8
43	Uganda	47.25
44	Madagascar	46.89
45	Malta	46.75
46	Sri Lanka	46.73
47	Croatia	46.67
48	Morocco	46.33
49	Ivory Coast	46.24
50	Malaysia	46.12
51	Mexico	45.82
52	Trinidad And Tobago	45.51
53	Cook Islands	45.11
54	Cayman Islands	44.37
55	Singapore	44.05
56	Senegal	43.22
57	Moldova	43.04
58	Guyana	42.86
59	Bulgaria	42.4
60	United Arab Emirates	41.23
61	Luxembourg	41.08
62	Israel	40.98
63	Kazakhstan	40.91
64	Latvia	40.73
65	Chinese Taipei	39.23
66	Hungary	39.11
67	Jamaica	39
68	Bermuda	38.91
69	Zambia	38.83
70	Nigeria	38.37
71	Guam	36.38
72	Peru	36.35
73	Algeria	36.25
74	Botswana	36.21
75	Denmark	36.1
76	Venezuela	35.87
77	Slovenia	35.69
78	Finland	35.56
79	Thailand	35.49
80	Serbia	35.2
81	Saint Vincent And The Grenadines	34.91
82	China	34.91
83	Barbados	34.72
84	Papua New Guinea	33.68
85	India	33.4
86	Ghana	33.27
87	Austria	33.03
88	Andorra	32.85
89	Bosnia And Herzegovina	31.93
90	Uzbekistan	31.28
91	Burkina Faso	31.05
92	Pakistan	30.78
93	Mauritius	30.56
94	Iran	30
94	Laos	30
96	Rwanda	29.78
97	Costa Rica	29.36
98	Niue Islands	28.63
99	Bahamas	27.76
100	Norway	26.52
101	Burundi	26.16
102	Eswatini	26.04
103	Solomon Islands	23.97
104	Cameroon	23.12
105	Indonesia	21.95
106	Monaco	17.17
107	Greece	16.55
108	Vanuatu	15.29
109	American Samoa	13.53

How is the World Rugby Ranking calculated? 

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. 

Has France ever been in first place in the IRB rankings?

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. 

Why are we talking about the World Rugby rankings rather than the IRB rankings? 

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