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: 2023-09-07

Rank	Team	Points
1	Ireland	91.82
2	South Africa	91.08
3	France	89.22
4	New Zealand	89.06
5	Scotland	84.01
6	Argentina	80.86
7	Fiji	80.28
8	England	79.95
9	Australia	79.87
10	Wales	78.26
11	Georgia	76.23
12	Samoa	76.19
13	Italy	75.63
14	Japan	73.29
15	Tonga	70.29
16	Portugal	68.61
17	Uruguay	66.63
18	United States	66.22
19	Romania	64.56
20	Spain	64.05
21	Namibia	61.61
22	Chile	60.49
23	Canada	60.46
25	Russia	58.06
26	Brazil	56.35
27	Netherlands	55.84
28	Switzerland	55.72
29	Belgium	54.58
30	Republic of Korea	53.46
31	Zimbabwe	52.43
32	Germany	52.32
33	Kenya	51.79
34	Poland	51.54
35	Czech Republic	50.78
36	Ukraine	49.3
37	Tunisia	48.55
38	Paraguay	48.5
39	Sweden	48.31
40	Philippines	47.8
41	Croatia	47.51
42	Uganda	47.25
43	Colombia	47.21
44	Madagascar	46.89
45	Malta	46.75
46	Sri Lanka	46.73
47	Morocco	46.33
48	Ivory Coast	46.24
49	Mexico	45.82
50	Trinidad And Tobago	45.51
51	Lithuania	45.39
52	Malaysia	45.14
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	42.41
60	United Arab Emirates	41.88
61	Latvia	41.4
62	Israel	41.24
63	Kazakhstan	41.16
64	Luxembourg	41.08
65	Chinese Taipei	39.23
66	Jamaica	39
67	Bermuda	38.91
68	Zambia	38.83
69	Nigeria	38.37
70	Hungary	37.92
71	Serbia	36.66
72	Finland	36.59
73	Denmark	36.42
74	Guam	36.38
75	Peru	36.35
76	Algeria	36.25
77	Botswana	36.21
78	Venezuela	35.87
79	Thailand	35.49
80	Slovenia	35.43
81	Saint Vincent And The Grenadines	34.91
82	China	34.91
83	Barbados	34.72
84	Papua New Guinea	33.68
85	Ghana	33.27
86	India	33.15
87	Austria	33.03
88	Andorra	32.07
89	Uzbekistan	31.28
90	Burkina Faso	31.05
91	Mauritius	30.56
92	Bosnia And Herzegovina	30.47
93	Pakistan	30.13
94	Laos	30
95	Iran	30
96	Rwanda	29.78
97	Costa Rica	29.36
98	Niue Islands	28.63
99	Bahamas	27.76
100	Burundi	26.16
101	Eswatini	26.04
102	Norway	25.95
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