The 2023 Rugby World Cup provided rugby fans with one of the most unpredictable, intriguing and entertaining competitions rugby has ever seen, with upsets happening left, right and centre in the competition. We have all the World Rugby Rankings of each team after the tournament.
After the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, although Ireland did not feature they did benefit from the result.
Ireland have miraculously managed to move one place up from third to second place after South Africa's history-making rugby World Cup final.
Ireland managed to gain the second spot in the rankings after the final whistle had been blown because the defeated team on the night of the final would lose enough ranking points to slip behind Ireland and end the tournament in 3rd position.
The defeated team on the day was New Zealand, losing 11 points to 12 against the Springboks. South Africa having won the game have retained the number one spot which they fell into after defeating France in the quarter-final stage and Ireland suffering defeat simultaneously to New Zealand at the same stage.
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Here are the World Rugby Rankings as they stand, following their revision on October 31.
World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 World Rugby Rankings
| Position | Team | Points |
| 1 | South Africa | 94.54 |
| 2 | Ireland | 90.57 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 89.80 |
| 4 | France | 87.81 |
| 5 | England | 85.46 |
| 6 | Scotland | 83.43 |
| 7 | Argentina | 80.68 |
| 8 | Wales | 80.64 |
| 9 | Australia | 77.48 |
| 10 | Fiji | 76.38 |
| 11 | Italy | 75.93 |
| 12 | Japan | 74.27 |
| 13 | Portugal | 72.78 |
| 14 | Georgia | 72.68 |
| 15 | Samoa | 72.23 |
| 16 | Tonga | 71.57 |
| 17 | Uruguay | 67.39 |
| 18 | USA | 66.22 |
| 19 | Spain | 64.05 |
| 20 | Romania | 63.28 |
Number One Spot
South Africa currently ranks number one in the rugby world rankings, following their rugby World Cup quarter-final victory against France and Ireland's quarter-final loss against New Zealand. They've held the position since October 15th 2023.
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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.
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