Updated world rugby rankings as Ireland close in on Springboks
02/09/2025 12:04 PM
Here is how the world rugby rankings were impacted after the second round of the Six Nations fixtures, which included a win for Ireland.
On Saturday, England claimed a stunning 26-25 win over France to kick-start their Six Nations campaign after an opening round defeat. The result, saw the winners move up in the world rugby rankings, with England improving their points tally by 1.32 to jump ahead of Scotland and into sixth place.
France remain fourth in the rankings, but have lost 1.32 ranking points, and now find themselves as many as 5.59 points behind the Springboks as the summit of the standings.
Staying on the topic of the Springboks, Ireland – who usurped the All Blacks into second spot last week – honed in on the world champions at the summit of the rankings.
Ireland they gained 0.87 of a rating point to increase their tally from 90.78 to 91.65. The Irish are now just 1.13 rating points behind the South Africans.
Meanwhile, Italy improved their ranking by 0.26 after being Wales on Friday night, with Warren Gatland's side having now dropped below Georgia into 12th place on the rankings.
CURRENT WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 2 OF THE SIX NATIONS
| RANK | COUNTRY | POINTS |
| 1 | South Africa | 92.78 |
| 2 | Ireland | 91.65 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 90.36 |
| 4 | France | 87.19 |
| 5 | Argentina | 84.97 |
| 6 | England | 83.63 |
| 7 | Scotland | 83.57 |
| 8 | Australia | 81.52 |
| 9 | Fiji | 80.07 |
| 10 | Italy | 78.67 |
| 11 | Georgia | 73.85 |
| 12 | Wales | 73.75 |
| 13 | Japan | 72.95 |
| 14 | Samoa | 72.68 |
| 15 | USA | 70.02 |
| 16 | Portugal | 68.82 |
| 17 | Uruguay | 67.06 |
| 18 | Spain | 65.98 |
| 19 | Tonga | 65.46 |
| 20 | Romania | 63.01 |
SIX NATIONS 2025 FIXTURES
ROUND 3
Saturday, 22 February
Wales vs Ireland
England vs Scotland
Sunday, 23 February
Italy vs France
ROUND 4
Saturday, 8 March
Ireland vs France
Scotland vs Wales
Sunday, 9 March
England vs Italy
ROUND 5
Saturday, 15 March
Italy vs Ireland
Wales vs England
France vs Scotland
WHICH FIXTURES ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO AND WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN THE TOURNAMENT THIS YEAR?
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211.
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