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New Zealand suffer rankings repercussions as dust settles on Rugby World Cup 2023
By Ian Cameron
As New Zealand grapples with a narrow 12-11 defeat in the Rugby World Cup final, and the repercussions were felt in the recent update of the World Rugby Men’s Rankings, which was officially updated today (Monday, October 30th).
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Under Ian Foster’s leadership, the All Blacks lost 1.76 points, causing their new rating to settle at 89.80 points. This adjustment resulted in New Zealand relinquishing their second-place standing to Ireland, who started the weekend in third spot.
South Africa, the reigning champions, maintained their grip on the number one position. Their rating improved to 94.54 points, extending their lead at the summit to 1.75 points.
England, fresh from their hard-fought 26-23 victory in the bronze final against Argentina, made significant gains in points. Nevertheless, they remained in fifth place, with a gap of 2.27 points separating them from fourth-placed France.
Argentina maintained its seventh-place position, narrowly edging out Wales with a reduced rating of 80.68 points.
Shifting focus away from the Rugby World Cup 2023, the Rugby Europe Trophy season commenced with Sweden securing a 48-37 victory over Czechia. This win, marking Sweden’s second consecutive triumph over Czechia in as many years, propelled them to 37th place, surpassing Tunisia and Paraguay, while Czechia remained in 35th.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s 40-24 triumph over Turkey in Pool C of the Rugby Europe Conference had no bearing on the rankings, as the winning team already held a rating 12.41 points higher than their opponents before accounting for home advantage.
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In the Victoria Cup, Uganda got their campaign off to a winning start by defeating Zambia 30-8 at the King’s Park Arena in Kampala on Saturday. Uganda’s rating, currently standing at 42.75 points, remained unchanged as a result, securing their position in 42nd place, while Zambia found itself 26 places further back in 68th.
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The weather was dreadful but the playing surface was great so there is no real excuse for such another poor standard of play from both sides. Dragons just the better team. But, what a shocking decision by the TMO not to award the Fifita try. This pretty much sums up Welsh rugby with poor teams and poor officials. The WRU have a lot of work to do and it needs to be done quickly to avoid rugby being lost to our future generations.
Go to commentsNo chance of Borthwick selecting any young talent. He announced his selection policy from the outset with naming a poor OF as Captain, retaining an equally poor Youngs and Vunipola brothers when there were many better EQP in the Premiership. SB revival of Leicester was based on SA muscle and a terrific Welsh flanker he has generally ignored young English talent.
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