The 2023 Rugby World Cup is well and truly in full flow. We have all the World Rugby Rankings of each team, each week as rank positions change left, right and centre after each and every game.
Ireland remains top of the table after beating Tonga with ease, but only just. South Africa fell one point short of the margin of victory needed to replace them at number one, following their win against Romania.
This weekend's clash between Ireland and South Africa is crucial as who ever comes out of the game victorious will take the number one ranking.
READ HERE: South Africa Coach Reveals Munster Origins Of Odd Rugby World Cup Tactic
Elsewhere the second round of games of the 2023 Rugby World Cup saw Fiji record a historic 22-15 victory against Australia to take them one above Australia in the world rankings. Fiji wasn't the only team in Pool C to move higher up on the rankings.
Wales moved to 7th place after defeating Portugal.
Here are the World Rugby Rankings as they stand, following their revision on 22 September.
World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 World Rugby Rankings
| Position | Team | Points |
| 1 | Ireland | 91.82 |
| 2 | South Africa | 91.67 |
| 3 | France | 90.59 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 87.69 |
| 5 | Scotland | 83.43 |
| 6 | England | 83.24 |
| 7 | Wales | 80.66 |
| 8 | Fiji | 80.66 |
| 9 | Australia | 79.00 |
| 10 | Argentina | 77.59 |
| 11 | Samoa | 76.19 |
| 12 | Italy | 75.63 |
| 13 | Georgia | 74.32 |
| 14 | Japan | 73.27 |
| 15 | Tonga | 70.29 |
| 16 | Portugal | 68.61 |
| 17 | Uruguay | 66.63 |
| 18 | USA | 66.22 |
| 19 | Romania | 64.56 |
| 20 | Spain | 64.05 |
Number One Spot
Ireland currently ranks number one in the rugby world rankings, following their impressive Grand Slam win. They've held that position since they defeated the All Blacks in a Test series in July 2022 and have not lost an international match since.
Rankings Explained
World Rugby Rankings are gathered using a points exchange system.
This essentially means that when two teams play against one another, they will exchange points with one another.
The losing team will lose the exact same amount of points the winning team gains from the match.
Each team's points range from 0-100, with the top three teams often ranked between 90-100.
Factors Impacting The Number Of Points Exchanged
A number of factors affect the amount of points that are exchanged following an international match.
These factors include:
- Each team's ranking going into the match
- Location of the game
- Home team
- The margin each team wins/loses by
When a team has a home advantage, their ranking is given three additional points for the purpose of comparing the two sides strengths.
This is done as a result of teams usually performing better in front of a home crowd.
