Watch every second of the 2025 Autumn Nations Series live and on demand via Stan Sport.<\/a><\/p>\nThey will then be drawn into six pools, with one from each forming the group, making it crucial teams finish this block of Tests inside the top six.<\/p>\n
With the Wallabies sitting in seventh, the results of the next five weeks of Test matches will determine whether they have to contend with a giant like the All Blacks, Springboks, or Ireland in their group, or receive a much easier road to the knockout stages.<\/p>\n
Rugbycomau breaks down how it works and the crucial games for the Wallabies.<\/p>\n
Current World Rankings and how it is determined<\/p>\n
As mentioned, the Wallabies sit in seventh on the World Rankings, with the current top ten looking like this:<\/p>\n
South Africa (92.20 points)New Zealand (90.02)Ireland (89.83)France (87.82)England (87.64)Argentina (83.82)Australia (82.93)Scotland (81.57)Fiji (81.16)Italy (77.77)<\/p>\n
The points totals are calculated using an exchange system of sorts, where sides receive points from each other on the basis of the match result.<\/p>\n
How much depends on a number of factors, with teams given massive boosts for beating higher-ranked teams, winning away from home, and winning big (15 points or more).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s why Argentina was able to leap ahead of Australia into sixth after splitting their series in the Rugby Championship, stealing a point from them. It could have been even more had the Wallabies not closed the margin in Sydney.<\/p>\n
It leaves a four-horse race for sixth, with the Wallabies and Los Pumas joined by outsiders Scotland and Fiji.<\/p>\n
However, the system falls in Australia\u2019s favour as they prepare for five games away from home, three of which are against higher-ranked teams (Ireland, France, England).<\/p>\n
Here are the games to look out for.<\/p>\n
The five in the Wallabies control<\/p>\n
The road for the Wallabies begins in Tokyo on Saturday against Japan. While the Brave Blossoms sit in 13th, the away factor of the fixture means a big enough win can earn the Wallabies a crucial half point. A loss would be catastrophic, losing 1.6 points for a close loss and 2.45 points for a big loss.<\/p>\n
It goes up another step against Italy, with a full point up for grabs with victory if they can get the job done in Udine.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s those fixtures against Ireland, France, and England that are the big earners for the Wallabies.<\/p>\n
Ireland is a free hit for the Wallabies, with essentially no points lost if they are defeated, while they can earn 2-3 depending on how big the victory is.<\/p>\n
However, the games against France and England are the two big matches, given their position in the World Rankings.<\/p>\n
Wins over either – or both – would lead to a four-point swing and draw the French and English into the battle for the final spots in the top six.<\/p>\n
Wallabies schedule\u00a0(all times AEDT)<\/p>\n
Wallabies v Japan – Saturday October 25 at National Stadium, Tokyo<\/p>\n
Wallabies v England – Sunday November 2 at Allianz Stadium, London<\/p>\n
Wallabies v Italy – Sunday November 9 at Bluenergy Stadium, Udine<\/p>\n
Wallabies v Ireland – Sunday November 16 at Aviva Stadium, Dublin<\/p>\n
Wallabies v France – Sunday November 23 at Stade de France, Paris<\/p>\n
Five out of control<\/p>\n
As mentioned, Argentina looms as Australia\u2019s main competitor to take sixth and that final spot in the top band of World Cup seedings.<\/p>\n
They have a three-Test schedule against England, Scotland, and Wales, with those games against the English and Scottish the big two games.<\/p>\n
Los Pumas are on a red-hot run in 2025 despite their last-place finish in the Rugby Championship, with scalps that include the Wallabies, All Blacks, and the British & Irish Lions.<\/p>\n
Argentina lost both games against a weakened England earlier in the year, while they are split perfectly down the middle against Scotland, each side winning 11 games each in the rivalry.<\/p>\n
The English also have a danger game against Fiji following the Wallabies fixture, with the Fijians famously taking down England in 2023 before the World Cup.<\/p>\n
A loss to the Fijians would cause a sizeable shift and vault Fiji into contention, who play France and Spain.<\/p>\n
For the Scots, their big chance to jump into the top six looms as their match against the All Blacks at Murrayfield, where they have never beaten the Kiwis.<\/p>\n
Beyond the top six fight, the match between Wales and Japan is an interesting one for Wallabies fans in terms of the second and third band. <\/p>\n
If Japan wins and one of Australia or Fiji launches into the top band, there\u2019s a real chance the trio of World Cup soulmates face off once again on the big stage.<\/p>\n
Other games to watch\u00a0<\/p>\n
England v Fiji – Sunday November 9 at Allianz Stadium, London<\/p>\n
Scotland v New Zealand – Sunday November 9 at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Edinburgh<\/p>\n
Wales v Japan – Sunday November 16 at Principality Stadium, Cardiff<\/p>\n
Scotland v Argentina – Monday November 17 at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Edinburgh<\/p>\n
England v Argentina – Monday November 24 at Allianz Stadium, London<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The end-of-year Tests have never meant more than this year\u2019s, with seeding for the 2027 Rugby World Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,15131,85,2500],"class_list":["post-231578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-rugby-world-cup","tag-sports","tag-wallabies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}