Ireland and France are officially the two best rugby teams in the world at the end of the 2023 Six Nations.
The new world rankings have been published on Monday at the culmination of a Championship that saw the Irish secure the Grand Slam. Second-placed France have a clear gap to third-placed New Zealand, with South Africa just behind by 0.01 points in fourth.
There is then a relative chasm of more than six rankings points to fifth-placed Scotland, with a clear divide between the best four teams on the planet and the rest. It brings into stark focus the controversial World Cup draw, which sees the top five all on the same side and three of those teams simply unable to progress beyond the quarter-finals at best. You can read more about that here.
England, Australia and Argentina are next, with Wales now more than two clear rankings points behind in ninth, just ahead of Japan.
Wales' World Cup group rivals Georgia are next, followed by Samoa and Fiji, who are both ahead of 14th-placed Italy, who lost every game despite showing signs of promise.
It is Georgia's highest ever ranking position, coming after they defended their Rugby Europe Championship title with a 38-11 victory in Sunday’s final against injury-depleted Portugal.
The final World Rugby rankings after the Six Nations
| 1 | Ireland | 91.82 | ||
| 2 | France | 90.47 | ||
| 3 | New Zealand | 88.98 | ||
| 4 | South Africa | 88.97 | ||
| 5 | Scotland | 82.77 | ||
| 6 | England | 82.12 | ||
| 7 | Australia | 81.80 | ||
| 8 | Argentina | 80.72 | ||
| 9 | Wales | 78.08 | ||
| 10 | Japan | 77.39 | ||
| 11 | (↑12) | Georgia | 76.23 | (+0.30) |
| 12 | (↓11) | Samoa | 76.03 | |
| 13 | Fiji | 74.84 | ||
| 14 | Italy | 74.63 | ||
| 15 | Tonga | 71.21 | ||
