Latest World Rugby rankings: The impact of France and Scotland’s victories as England fall
World Ranking with an image of Antoine Dupont
Following round two of the 2026 Six Nations, here’s how the weekend’s action impacted the World Rugby rankings.
For a second week in a row, the top 10 has been shaken up again due to the results with Italy and Scotland once again trading places, while England have fallen.
What unfolded
After a stunning victory in Rome last weekend, Italy moved into ninth position on the World Rugby rankings at the expense of Scotland. The Azzurri headed to Dublin with their tails up and could have risen to a record high of seventh with a historic win over Ireland.
However, it was not to be for Gonzalo Quesada’s men, who put up a brave fight against the Irish but ultimately fell to a 13-20 defeat at the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland did not earn any rating points for the win over Italy due to the difference in the rating points before home advantage was considered. The Azzurri did not lose any points for the same reason.
However, the Italians still dropped a place in the rankings as Scotland earned 1.70 points for their Calcutta Cup victory over England. Had Ben Earl not scored a late try to cut the deficit, Scotland could have jumped from tenth place up to seventh, but instead, they simply swapped places with the Azzurri.
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
The Murrayfield result also had consequences further up the standings as England dropped below France into fourth position, despite Les Bleus earning no points for their comprehensive 54-12 win over Wales.
Elsewhere, Georgia stormed to a 61-12 win over the Netherlands in the Rugby Europe Championship, another result that had no impact on the respective teams’ rating points.
Latest World Rugby Rankings
(As of 15/02/2026 before Romania v Belgium)
1 South Africa 93.94
2 New Zealand 90.33
3 (↑1) France 88.40 (+0.00)
4 (↓1) England 87.71 (-1.70)
5 Ireland 86.81 (+0.00)
6 Argentina 84.97
7 Australia 81.53
8 Fiji 81.14
9 (↑1) Scotland 81.10 (+1.70)
10 (↓1) Italy 79.81 (-0.00)
11 Wales 74.23 (-0.00)
12 Japan 74.09
13 Georgia 73.18 (+0.00)
14 Uruguay 69.19
15 Spain 69.16
16 USA 68.26
17 Chile 66.72
18 Tonga 66.66
19 Portugal 66.53
20 Samoa 66.43
