World Rugby Rankings: All The Permutations Ahead Of Ireland's Clash With New Zealand

Ireland take on the All Blacks in the first of four Autumn Internationals this Friday evening at 8:10 pm in the Aviva Stadium.

While there's no trophy up for grabs, Ireland will be faced with the tall task of trying to maintain their position atop the World Rugby Rankings.

Ireland had lost the top spot after their RWC 2023 quarter-final loss to New Zealand but regained it when then-holders South Africa lost to Argentina in the Rugby Championship in September.

However, heading into this weekend very little separates 1st place Ireland, 2nd place South Africa and 3rd place New Zealand. With the rankings system favouring teams playing away from home, Ireland have a tough challenge lying ahead.

Ireland v New Zealand World Rugby Rankings Permutations

Currently 3rd on 89.67 points, New Zealand are close enough to Ireland that should they be triumphant in the Aviva Stadium they'll be able to leapfrog Ireland in the rankings.

Therefore, Andy Farrell's men must earn either a win or a draw if they're to stop New Zealand ousting them.

However, 2nd place South Africa will also be vying for blood when they take on Scotland on Sunday afternoon. Should they beat Scotland as expected, only an Irish win will be good enough to maintain their position on top of the World Rugby Rankings.

Should both South Africa and New Zealand leapfrog Ireland, it will be South Africa who take the top spot, New Zealand who take the second and Ireland who fall to third.

If Ireland and New Zealand draw, while South Africa win/draw then Ireland will take second place behind the Springboks.

World Rugby Rankings

Here are the World Rugby Rankings as they stand, following their revision on the 4th of November.

World Rugby Rankings - Top 15

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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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