How this weekend's Six Nations can impact the World Rankings

How this weekend's Six Nations can impact the World Rankings

World Rugby has published the ranking permutations for the second rounds of the Six Nations and Rugby Europe Championship 2022. 

Permutation highlights:

  • Wales must beat Scotland by more than 15 points to be the higher ranked of the two nations and then only by 0.01 of a rating point
  • Scotland will slip back to seventh below Australia if they lose by a smaller margin
  • Scotland will climb above a beaten France into fifth – equalling their highest ever ranking – if they are victorious against Wales, a result which would see the Welsh drop one to ninth
  • Les Bleus will be ranked higher than Ireland if they win their encounter in Paris and would climb another place to third if England also fail to beat Italy
  • A heavy defeat for Les Bleus could see them drop as low as seventh if in tandem with a Scottish win
  • Ireland cannot improve on third place but could cut New Zealand’s advantage to just 0.16 rating points with a win by more than 15 points
  • England cannot improve their rating with victory over Italy due to the 16.15 rating points between the sides before home weighting is factored in
  • Italy must beat England by more than 15 points to climb above a Georgia side victorious in the Netherlands. If Georgia fail to win then a smaller margin of victory is enough for Italy
  • Georgia cannot improve their rating with victory over the Netherlands due to the 15.90 rating points between the sides before home weighting is factored in
  • The Netherlands must win by more than 15 points to improve their position if Russia win. However, if the Bears lose then a smaller margin of victory will be sufficient
  • Romania cannot improve their position even with an emphatic victory over their visitors and will drop below Tonga if they fail to beat Portugal
  • Portugal will fall two places if beaten by Romania, three if in tandem with a Spanish victory over Russia
  • Portugal will climb to a new high of 15th if they beat Romania and will be the higher ranked of the two nations for the first time since November 2005
  • Romania can fall between three and five places, depending on the margin of defeat and the outcome of the Russia v Spain match
  • Russia will climb two places – above Chile and Namibia – if they beat the higher-ranked Spain in Sochi
  • Spain can climb two or three places in victory with Russia remaining 25th unless the Dutch can upset Georgia



Match officials:


  • Nic Berry (Australia) takes charge of his first Six Nations match since March 2019 with Wales v Scotland
  • Compatriot Angus Gardner will do the same with France v Ireland with all of his previous Six Nations matches as referee having involved one of these sides
  • Damon Murphy (Australia) will make his Six Nations debut as a referee when he takes charge of Italy v England
  • Andrea Piardi (Italy) takes charge of Russia v Spain for the second time, having overseen Los Leones' 31-12 win in Sochi in 2020
  • Ludovic Cayre (France) will referee the Netherlands v Georgia match making it five years in a row that he has refereed a match in the Rugby Europe Championship
  • Frank Murphy (Ireland) will officiate Romania v Portugal, having been in the middle for Portugal's historic victory over Canada in November 

Team news highlights:

  • Wales captain Dan Biggar will play his 100th test (including Lions caps) and could be joined on the milestone by replacement Jonathan Davies 
  • Second-row Grant Gilchrist will win his 50th cap for Scotland 
  • France make two personnel changes, one enforced with Yoram Moefana replacing the injured Jonathan Danty at centre 
  • James Ryan will captain Ireland in the absence of the injured Johnny Sexton with Joey Carbery to start at fly-half
  • Italy tight-head prop Pietro Ceccarelli will make his first test start in his 18th international as one of three changes to the Azzurri starting line-up
  • England ring the changes with winger Jack Nowell to make his first test start since the 38-38 draw with Scotland in March 2019. Ben Youngs could become the joint most-capped England men’s player of all time, alongside Jason Leonard on 114, after being named on the bench
  • Russia captain Viktor Gresev returns in a much-changed pack which sees hooker Dmitrii Parkhomenko rewarded for his two-try haul against Romania with a first start
  • Spain welcome back some France-based players in second-row Lucas Guillaume, openside Fred Quercy and full-back Charlie Malie
  • Dutch captain Dirk Danen will play his 48th and final test for his country before retiring
  • Georgia have made five changes to their forward pack while 18-year-old centre Tornike Kakhoidze could make his test debut off the bench 
  • Romania make three changes in their backline for this crucial match, including Daniel Plai at fly-half 
  • Portugal will also have a new fly-half with Jorge Abecassis their only change in the starting line-up that drew with Georgia last weekend  

CREDIT: WORLD RUGBY


             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             

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