World Rugby Rankings preview

World Rugby has published the ranking permutations for this weekend's third round of the Guinness Men's Six Nations 2025.

Permutation highlights:

• Ireland cannot pick up any rating points for beating a Wales side that is 11.61 points and 10 places behind them in the rankings before home weighting is factored in. 
• Anything other than an Ireland win will see Simon Easterby’s team replaced in second by New Zealand. 
• Ireland, however, cannot fall any lower than third as France have too much ground to make up, even if they beat Italy convincingly.  
• Two-thirds of a point is the most Les Bleus can gain for victory in Rome, which would still leave them in fourth, two-and-a-half points behind the All Blacks. 
• France would have to lose by more than 15 points to concede fourth place to Argentina. 
• Les Bleus could even drop to sixth – for the first time since November 2021 – if Scotland also create a piece of Calcutta Cup history and beat England by the same margin.
• This would see Scotland climb three places to a new high of fourth.
• If France do not lose by such a margin, Scotland can still equal their highest position of fifth if they beat England by more than 15 points by climbing above Argentina and England.
• A smaller margin of victory – or a draw – will still be enough to lift Scotland above England into sixth.
• It is not possible for England to replicate the one-place gain they achieved a couple of weeks ago for their 26-25 victory over France. 
• However, with as many as 0.95 points on offer, England will be able to cement their position in sixth if they wrestle the Calcutta Cup from Scotland in emphatic fashion. 
• Any form of win for Italy will be enough for them to replace Fiji in ninth. 
• Wales will reclaim 11th place from Georgia if they derail Ireland’s Grand Slam bid in Cardiff, with a draw or victory enough to lift them back above Lelos. 
• Poland cannot climb the rankings this weekend with victory in the Rugby Europe Men’s Trophy 2024-25, but their visitors Croatia will drop two places to 43rd if they lose by more than 15 points. 
• In contrast, a big win for Croatia will see them become the higher-ranked of the two teams in 35th – one place shy of their record high.  

Match official highlights:

• Christophe Ridley (England) will take charge of both Wales and Ireland for the first time in the opening Guinness Men's Six Nations match of the weekend. 
• Pierre Brousset (France) makes his long-awaited Men's Six Nations debut in the middle with England v Scotland in Twickenham, injury having denied him the chance in 2024. 
• Karl Dickson (England) referees his second match of the tournament with Italy v France in Rome, a fixture he oversaw in 2021 when Les Bleus ran out convincing 50-10 winners.