Women’s test rugby rankings: November 2014

The rankings – which also take into account the recent European Championship - do not quite follow the final positions at the World Cup, partly because they continue to take into account pre-tournament games, but also because they give equal weight to all pool games as well as the finals. As a result Canada do well from their drawn game with England, as well as reaching the final, sufficient to now move above France into third place.

Similarly although Australia break into the top 10 for the first time, their lack of test matches in the years prior to the tournament still hold them back behind Wales – despite their beating the Welsh in Marcoussis.

Spain’s participation also sees them break into the top 10, for the first time opening up a significant gap over both Italy and Scotland who slip into 11thand 12th. Supporters of the Nomads will also see their position slipping slightly as a result of their losses against South Africa prior to the World Cup.

The European Championship has given Netherlands a small boost, but otherwise had little effect on the positions other than allowing Belgium to close the gap on Russia. Switzerland’s last-play defeat to the Russians also keeps them just outside the top 20.

Overall what is noticeable is how the gaps between some teams have closed. New Zealand and England, while they continue to occupy the top two places, are no longer hundreds of points ahead of the rest and each country from first to sixth place is barely 100 points or less behind the team above.

These six teams – England, New Zealand, Canada, France, Ireland and the United States – now appear to be the “Premier League” of women’s rugby, all capable of upsetting each other.

A “Second Division” has also now emerged, running from 7thto roughly 14thin the table, with little or nothing to choose between Wales, Australia, Spain and South Africa, and with Italy, Scotland, Samoa and Kazakhstan also not far behind.

After these eight there is a sizable gap before Netherlands and Sweden, and then a near 1,000 point gulf before Russia and the rest.

Promising through this sounds it has to be a concern to look ahead and wonder how many of these teams will play any serious test rugby in the next three years. While the “Premier League” will continue to be active, the unfortunate truth is that, despite XVs rugby’s undoubted popularity with both players and spectators, perhaps half of the next tier are unlikely to play many – if any – tests between now and the next World Cup.

1

England

5117

2

New Zealand

5076

3

Canada

4984

4

France

4950

5

Ireland

4814

6

United  States

4788

7

Wales

4488

8

Australia

4397

9

Spain

4379

10

South Africa

4332

11

Italy

4115

12

Scotland

3922

13

Samoa

3579

14

Kazakhstan

3483

*

Nomads

3452

15

Netherlands

2971

16

Sweden

2942

17

Russia

2065

18

Belgium

1951

19

Germany

1929

20

Japan

1828

21

Hong  Kong

1588

22

Finland

1518

23

Switzerland

1475

24

Singapore

1343

25

Kenya

1102

26

Uganda

1066

27

China

951

28

Norway

914

29

Romania

810

30

Trinidad  &  Tobago.

804

31

Fiji

704

32

Cayman

683

33

Thailand

670

34

Uzbekistan

647

35

Denmark

631

36

Jamaica

594

37

Tonga

530

Caribbean Select

619

38

Philippines

515

39

Luxembourg

491

40

Malaysia

478

41

Czech  Rep.

476

42

Laos

458

43

Guyana

440

44

Brazil

400

45

Serbia

355

46

Rwanda

348

47

Barbados

298

48

Bosnia  &  Herz.

260

49

Austria

246

50

Colombia

199

51

Namibia

188

52

Zambia

183

53

Mayotte

181

54

Bahamas

178

55

Croatia

167

56

St  Vincent

133

57

Portugal

126

58

Kyrgyzstan

125

59

Burundi

123

60

Venezuela

106

61

Réunion

91

62

Cambodia

86

63

Botswana

86

64

Hungary

81

65

PNG

68

66

Zimbabwe

57

© Serge PIQUET - Novembre 2014 / November 2014