World Rugby Women's Rankings Preview - RWC Final & 3rd Place Play Off

World Rugby has published the ranking permutations for the Rugby World Cup 2021 bronze final and final at Eden Park this weekend.

Permutation highlights:

• New Zealand must win by more than 15 points to return to the top of the rankings
• A smaller margin of victory will see the Black Ferns trail England by 1.10 rating points – significantly less than the current 6.50-point gap between the sides
• England with victory will post the highest rating in the history of the men’s and women’s World Rugby Rankings powered by Capgemini, breaking through 98 rating points for the first time
• Victory by more than 15 points will see the Red Roses increase their cushion at the top from to as much as 10.39 rating points
• Canada will climb to second if they win and New Zealand lose. They have not been ranked as high as second since November 2016
• Canada will break the 90-rating point mark for the first time if their victory is by more than 15 points. Only England and New Zealand have achieved this rating
• France cannot fall from fourth place, even if beaten by more than 15 points as they would still have a cushion of 4.98 rating points over Italy
• Les Bleues, however, will climb above Canada into third place if they win the bronze final
• France could climb to second if they win and New Zealand lose, provided one of the margins is by more than 15 points

Match officials:

• Sara Cox (England) will referee her seventh Rugby World Cup match and third of this tournament with the bronze final, having been in the middle for Canada's 22-12 victory over Italy and Australia's 13-7 win against Wales last month. Cox has refereed this fixture once before, Canada's 36-19 victory in the Women's Rugby Super Series in July 2019  
• Hollie Davidson (Scotland) takes charge of the Rugby World Cup 2021 final, becoming the first female to take charge of both a Rugby World Cup final in 15s and sevens - achieving the feat in just 62 days after refereeing the RWC Sevens final in Cape Town, South Africa, on 11 September.