The Springboks have extended their lead at the top of the World Rugby rankings, while Australia have fallen further off the pace ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup draw.
The top six in the rankings after the November internationals will be the Band 1 nations for the draw, with the tournament expansion meaning that the 2027 World Cup will have six pools.
Impact of Argentina’s victory
Australia would have hoped to feature in that bracket, but their 26-19 defeat, paired with Argentina’s record 52-28 victory over Wales, has dealt a hammer blow to those plans.
The combination of the results means that the Wallabies now trail Los Pumas by 2.61 rating points on the World Rugby rankings, having started the weekend 0.92 points behind the South Americans.
Australia could make up significant ground this weekend when they face off against Ireland, but would need to beat the Irish by more than 15 points and hope that Scotland defeats Argentina to claim sixth position.
Meanwhile, Italy picked up a 1.21 rating point boost with their second-ever win over the Wallabies, but that was not enough to surpass Fiji in ninth position despite the Pacific Islanders falling to defeat at the hands of England. Third is very much within England’s grasp this weekend when they tackle the All Blacks, as a win of any kind will see them move ahead of Ireland, regardless of the result in Dublin.
Fiji lost just 0.02 rating points in defeat, the same value that England gained for the win as Steve Borthwick’s side remained in fourth position.
France remained in fifth following their 32-17 loss at the hands of South Africa, who have now opened up a 1.71 lead over second-placed New Zealand.
Damian McKenzie’s late heroics saw the All Blacks edge past Scotland, earning 0.36 rating points in doing so. The eighth-placed Scots remain within touching distance (0.48) of Australia, with the gap actually shortened even after their loss to New Zealand. A win over Argentina could see Gregor Townsend’s side move up into seventh, and even higher, depending on results elsewhere this coming weekend.
Meanwhile, Uruguay were the biggest climbers this weekend, jumping up four positions into 15 after their 26-8 win over Portugal.
World Rugby rankings
As of 10/11/2025
1 South Africa 93.06 (+0.86)
2 New Zealand 91.35 (+0.36)
3 Ireland 88.85 (unchanged)
4 England 88.06 (+0.02)
5 France 86.95 (-0.86)
6 Argentina 84.30 (+0.48)
7 Australia 81.69 (-1.21)
8 Scotland 81.21 (-0.36)
9 Fiji 81.15 (-0.02)
10 Italy 78.98 (+1.21)
11 Georgia 74.69 (unchanged)
12 Wales 73.57 (-0.48)
13 Japan 73.25 (unchanged)
14 Spain 69.12
15 Uruguay 68.52 (+1.93)
16 USA 67.40
17 Samoa 66.94
18 Chile 66.72
19 Tonga 66.66
20 Portugal 64.52 (-1.93)