New rugby world rankings released as Wales move up to third despite being Six Nations champions

Wales fell to ninth in the World Rugby rankings after their series loss to Argentina.

Despite winning the Six Nations earlier this year, Wayne Pivac’s side now find themselves outside the first two levels.

This is a consequence of their disappointing performance against the Pumas in the two Tests at the Principality Stadium this month.

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After drawing 20-20 against 14 men, they were then well beaten in last Saturday’s second leg, losing 33-11.

This saw them drop two places, from seventh to ninth in the world rankings. They were sixth at the end of the successful Six Nations campaign earlier this year.

Argentina and Scotland both passed them, with Japan not far behind now in tenth place.

Climbing up the ranks won’t be easy either, with New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji and Australia waiting as fall opponents.

Fortunately, breaking out of the top eight won’t have any impact on Wales when it comes to the 2023 World Cup.

The seeds for this tournament were based on the world rankings as of January 2020 and, as such, the Pivac team were among the top seeds, having been in the top four at the time, with the South Africa, New Zealand and England.

This saw them grouped together with Australia, Fiji, Europe 1 and a final qualifying winner in Pool 3 of the World Cup which will be held in France from September 8 to October 28, 2023.

Elsewhere in the standings, the top four remain unchanged, with South Africa entering the Test Series against the British and Irish Lions as the No.1 team in the world.

France are now above Australia in the list, although the Wallabies won this month’s Test Series between the two countries 2-1 Down Under.