World Rugby Rankings | Ireland Go Number One | 2024

[@Jerosa99]

De nada, Irlanda. Saludos desde Argentina.

[@Irish780]

Hehe, thank you😊

[@markmool1]

Se la debíamos después del 99, 07 y 15 😀

[@davidoconnor8224]

Yes indeed, muchas gracias!

[@conorredmond6217]

Gracias amigo

[@karlosdeevs]

@Jerosa99 Muchas gracias, mi amigo☘️

[@arthurfaulkner4239]

I'm a South African and I just want to say that the rankings do make sense. We won the world cup and that should count for something, which it did (double points gain for those games.) But importantly, our recent successes have been beating the ABs at home (which is an achievement, but was on friendly turf), beating a beleaguered Australia away and then losing to a hot-and-cold Argentinian team (which you could put down to luck for which version that we played against, but stats don't care about luck and it would be disrespectful to an Argentinian team that played very well.) Ireland narrowly missed grand-slamming the 6 Nations featuring only an away loss to a well ranked England side and with wins over strong Scottish and French teams. On top of that, their tour to New Zealand prior to the World Cup was incredibly successful. But importantly head-to-head, they beat us in the world cup and they came to South Africa and went 1-1. Honestly, I can't imagine a fairer situation than the two of us being incredibly close, but Ireland edging it slightly. We can't have blinkers on and be selective about which results we think are relevant to these rankings.

[@22grena]

Good sound reasoning. Unfortunately some Saffas react with the heart and not the head

[@naidoo307]

Nah bokke should still be nomer 1 we r da booke da greatest ever ! 😮😂

[@eatmyshamrock]

Fair play 👏

[@Wall1s_]

⁠@@22grena​​⁠Not all of us, but same goes with some Irish fans.

[@alcoyne3333333333333]

Respect Pal 🇮🇪 thanks

[@corcaigh]

Congrats to Argentina, playing some exciting rugby. Expect SA to bounce back next week. Nice to have top 6/7 teams capable of beating each other on any given day. No room for complacency.

[@PB22559]

I've been watching rugby for 40 years. During that time, the top 6-7ish sides have never been this close to each other. Rugby is in a great place.

[@ColmDevitt57]

It's a pleasure to see both fans and players alike showing such fantastic respect to the game lately. What rugby is all about.

[@Readbetweenthelines1]

As a South African, think it's fair given the tight games against Ireland and their record of wins against us. If we are consistent then it will be ours again in no time.

[@PB22559]

Ireland will have to lose for you to regain 1st in the rankings. If they win all their november intls, they'll still be in first spot. It'll be a tough ask though because they're playing NZ, Arg, Fiji and Aus.

[@Cpchurch87]

People’s inability to separate rankings from the WC is crazy. Ireland are top of a ranking system (solely used to determine seeding at the next WC) that calculates points and performance over time. SA are the world champs. Both of these things can be true. The reality is the top 4 (maybe 5) teams are all so close that anyone can beat anyone on a particular day.

[@22grena]

Rankings is more important than a knockout tournie every four years

[@randomlyfactual1943]

@@Cpchurch87 The #1 spot in any major sport is a big deal.

[@Wall1s_]

And that is a good thing for rugby, where teams are closely matched. No longer a one sided affair, at least for now.

[@paolozmm]

@@randomlyfactual1943 its not really in rugby. there's not a single team in the top 8 (and arguably further down the rankings) that actually care with exception of those that might be on the fringe of seedings groupings. Otherwise not a single player looks at them.

[@randomlyfactual1943]

@@paolozmm Yeah I know it's not like the ATP rankings or anything. But it's still a big deal, you get to have bragging rights for as long as you are able to hold on to the title

[@cobus5841]

Good on Ireland for taking the top spot. With the 2 games played between S.A. and Ireland, it was clear that they are up there for a reason. Our loss against Argentina pulled us down as it should. If we win the next game against Argentina then our rankings should kreep up a bit but still just below Ireland in my view.

[@Feeereemeers]

Speaking from an Irish perspective, we’re well aware that winning the World Cup makes you the best team in the world. World rankings reflects our consistency and we’re likely the top northern hemisphere team (France may not agree). To think Irish people think they’re the best is to really misunderstand our mentality

[@petrusvanderMerwe-o9k]

congrats ireland

[@johnmc3862]

No prizes for it!

[@Innerlight320]

@@johnmc3862The prize is no.1 you dont get that for last place

[@superdrog1819]

Ireland didn't make any mistakes at all in this years Rugby Championship. Flawless.

[@x-latetv-x6816]

Ireland are in the championship as they have already played the boks and will play oz, arg, and nz soon so we are in the rugby championship😂

[@johncahalane7327]

​@@x-latetv-x6816 Yes already played South Africa twice, and will play The All Blacks, Argentina, Australia, England Italy, France, Scotland and Wales before April 1st ...with the bulk of the Irish First team in Australia with the Lions, Ireland will be touring Georgia 🇬🇪 and Romania in 2025

[@randomlyfactual1943]

Ireland's strategy for the Rugby Championship has been absolutely perfect. They watched and waited and then POUNCED WHEN THEIR MORTAL ENEMIES MADE A MISTAKE

[@Wall1s_]

Ireland would be the “Italy” of the Rugby Championship.

[@jimmyobrien8738]

​@@Wall1s_I think Australia is the Italy of that

[@Muzika_Gospel]

Youre the best place to get the updates regarding the World Rankings :)

[@johnmc3862]

I congratulate this man for being able to understand the World rugby rankings.

[@Greg-ql8yt]

Seems about right - Boks are typically inconsistent between RWCs (and consistently great at RWCs). Fair play to Ireland for their last game to beat SA in SA…

[@kobuslouw9533]

Well SA has the highest winning record this year of all teams so…. Inconsistent? Historically yes, but presently, no.

[@davidroseitg]

​@@kobuslouw9533Ireland lost 3 games and SA lost 3 games, 2 of them against Ireland

[@7seven243]

​@@davidroseitgWe only lost 2 this year mate

[@Greg-ql8yt]

@@davidroseitg that loss to England looks even worse with how limited Engalnd are…. In the last 12 months NZ have lost 3 times to SA and 1 to Arg (which is also a poor poor result).

[@kobuslouw9533]

@@davidroseitg SA only lost 2 mate. 1 point loss to Ireland, and 1 point loss to Argentina. Last year SA had only 2 losses as well if I remember correctly. 1 to NZ, 1 to Ireland.

[@malibongwemalinga8871]

Nothing to separate top 4 🔥

[@Peter-yb8ys]

It was a black wall for 10 straight years with the mighty All Blacks being untouchable for literally a decade! Are we about to see a green wall for 10yrs shared by the mighty Irish and mighty Springboks?

[@creekyknee]

Probably, but the colour of the wall will be Emerald Green. Look at the U20s over the last few years. France are going to be our main competition for the number one spot. With England now and then coming up t say Hello.

[@potheadtoker11]

Cocky from supporters of a team that can't win a knockout game.

[@fawltyoldboybasil.2178]

@@potheadtoker11 As there is only ONE tournament at international level played every 4 years with a knockout format, we will just have to hold up our hand and say Guilty as Charged!! As the Current #1 Team in World Rankings we have to be standard bearers - The World of Rugby expects its NUMBER ONE TEAM to set the example. COYBIG!!!!! :) :) :)

[@Coreylahey1000]

​@potheadtoker11 Ah don't fall for the troll. Believe us, i'd be happy if Ireland was ranked 10th if it meant winning the Webb Ellis trophy (though that's probably unlikely to go hand in hand 😂)

[@johnmcintyre800]

The TMOs have taken the cockyness out of the all blacks game not looking as good in the slow mos​@@potheadtoker11

[@thomasVA9707]

I like the world rankings cause it creates more tention between the top teams, World rugby is so tight right now and its partly because ireland came into the top 3 over the last couple of years and proved that they not going anywhere 🇿🇦

[@SekuruJohan]

For plain old consistency, Ireland deserve to be top. Pressure on SA to win up north now. Why could we not have a third test with Ireland! That is going to annoy me for months

[@Irish780]

@SekuruJohan haha 😄 me too but u still world champion

[@johngarveyire]

Ireland played well the weekend - deserved. I think we'd all love a 3rd test.

[@lawrenemakamu1257]

well, I guess it’s Ireland who have a target on their backs - as a saffa I am happy if we could just win the RC and hv a good tour in the northern hemi. . The team to beat now wl b Ireland 🇮🇪

[@seannorris7993]

We’ll take the step down to build for 2027. The bigger picture is more important. Ireland are a great team, but how much better can they get? We are not playing well because of changing the way we play, yet still winning, we can still improve.

[@geoffnelson6756]

SA are blessed with vast numbers of good players getting first team games in leagues around the world, so when a world cup comes around they have top level depth to hand, Ireland only select from 4 teams in Ireland, someone like Frawley can't even get a regular game at 10 with Leinster, if he was SA he would be in a top team somewhere and still eligible for Ireland so it a massive disadvantage when it comes to W Cups. Since about 2011 our academy system has been building, hence players like Jamie Osborne a centre slotting into full back for his debut. To answer your question, Ireland can get a lot better and if they get a good draw (SA have benefitted from fortunate draws in the past) then they can get further in the next tournament.

[@geoffnelson6756]

Just to add, without Eben and PSDT, SA are ot as strong, 50/50 whether they get to the next WC

[@ironmaiden9697]

*Sighs in biltong*

[@daveharris1800]

This wins the internet

[@johngarveyire]

Coem on mate - back on yer feet...

[@johnmc3862]

Quaffs in Biltong.

[@CRAiCED.]

Sooo happy for Argentina but also happy for our boys, so looking forward to our tests later this year 🇮🇪

[@DirkJacobsz]

Shew Boks number 2 - who would have thought- what happens if the Pumas beat them at home- holy moly

[@iainbeattie2970]

I think the rankings are pretty accurate reflecting the current state of rugby. Nothing to separate two great teams in Ireland and SA. ABs a bit behind but building so expect them to get closer to the top 2. England, France, Argentina a bit behind top 3 but Argentina beating ABs, Boks and Aussies in one season is a great achievement, one only my Scotland could dream of achieving. Scotland, Australia and the rest are making up the numbers, although I think there is hope for Australia with their coaching team, and I expect them to win against Wales and Scotland

[@randomlyfactual1943]

Roses are red Violets are blue Because Libbok shanked it wide We now are Number Two

[@naidoo307]

😂😂😂😂oh boet ! Bloody Libbok must be left handed !😮😅😅

[@TwoCentsRugby]

😂

[@MarkKerrigan-se6st]

Finally. I’ve been looking forward to your World Rankings update all day. 👍

[@jamessmith8727]

I think it is a very fair system 🇮🇪

[@dsm577]

As an Englishman I have to say I’m delighted to see the Aussies in tenth 😂😂😂😂

[@silversolver7809]

I'm fine with Irl & SA orbiting each other, but rankings shortcomings are shown by gap to NZ who only lost away to SA in 2 one-score games with late comebacks-NZ should be in the same orbit as top 2, maybe just barely back in 3rd. France… well not the same without Dupont of course, but their drawn summer series with Pumas looks better now. Should be a close 4th from here on, and capable of being 1st as much as any of the top 4. Pumas, what a great year so far! Well done, good to see you back-but don't think you're forgiven for the 2015 WC QF!! Looks like England are back, 2 one-score losses in NZ is decent form, so vying with Pumas for 5-6-no surprise if either of those 2 make it into top 4, can definitely beat them on their day. Italy, keep it going, challenge Scotland for 2-club-country honors! But Fiji… I know it's the national sport which makes a big difference, but still got to hand it to a country with only 1m pop.

[@johngarveyire]

Orbiting - I like that

[@robingeorge7151]

Hi mate. I'm a "Saffa" and I honestly find this rankings as weird (even when the Boks weren't World Champions). But as weird as it is, congratulations to Ireland

[@Edgycoo]

so ireland dropped the quarter to nz, dropped one to the boks and dropped one to england. So who exactly did they beat to net points? I know it all works out but a win over italy isnt impressive lol. I get its all mathmatically fair but..............

[@randomlyfactual1943]

@@Edgycoo Ireland had a very good rating since 2022. In this year's 6N, their wins over Italy and Wales didn't count. But their wins over France, Scotland and South Africa did. Likewise, for South Africa, our wins over Wales, Portugal and Australia didn't count.

[@Edgycoo]

@@randomlyfactual1943 well, they all count, it just depends by how much. Obviously at the moment losing to argentina is a big loss as they are little lower ranked than they will be soon.

[@randomlyfactual1943]

@@Edgycoo Yeah, Argentina - this tournament at least - is better than their rankings would indicate. If they have a strong European tour, we can see them break into that Top 5

[@Trajan2401]

Ireland have been the most consistent side in the last few years they beat SA in Ireland beat SA in SA beat SA at the world cup and beat SA 4 out of the last 5 games

[@fawltyoldboybasil.2178]

Well this will certainly cause a few bouts of emotional dandruff!!!!

[@TwoCentsRugby]

I saw a SA fan on the Springboks subreddit say "When you get beat by number 7 in world, it’s not crazy that you lose your number 1 spot." - and that makes sense

[@karlosdeevs]

@@TwoCentsRugby👏

[@randomlyfactual1943]

​@@TwoCentsRugbyAnd that's something that will happen more and more. You and I know that Argentina on their day is as good as anyone, but the rankings don't reflect that yet. We also know that Australia and Wales will turn the tide in the next year. Expect to see a few upset wins against the top three.

[@neilshrekpurves4521]

Hi Mark, you should have a rugby "coaches" ranking as well, just to keep them on their toes 😊

[@johngarveyire]

Your're thinking about Eddie dropping like a stone...

[@spervuurproduksies]

Great idea! It would be a first.

[@johnwagenhauser9835]

Thanks Mark

[@corny165]

There's little predictive value in the rankings, between the top four at least. The Boks don't suddenly become more susceptible to defeat against Ireland because they've fallen below them. So i take the rankings with a pinch of salt. That said each side deserves their current place.

[@creekyknee]

Back where we belong. The rankings are a fair reflection on how the teams really rate against each other. When the Argies beat the Bokkes again next Saturday will NZ go into second place ?

[@alanoppel7485]

after the game I'm going to come back here and ask how well this comment aged and please sir no being shy then I expect a wholehearted sincere response, ok?!

[@spheanniks8131]

If Argies win I they could move to 5th but SA wouldn’t move down. Still too wide a gap between NZ. If boks win there will be no change

[@davidwalker2402]

@@spheanniks8131yeah but when England beat you you’ll be in 4th NZ 2nd France third and thats about right 😂

[@Wall1s_]

Don't look down, it's a long, long way to fall 😂

[@spheanniks8131]

@@davidwalker2402 haven’t lost in Ireland in over 3 years. I’d say we’ll be fine lad

[@IgorOcash]

Fiji at Murrayfield looks a tasty match. ABs could win or lose against any of the tuff teams they'll play on their northern tour. If we knew fer shure which side would win, why, we wouldn't have to play that match, right?

[@uluibaut]

I'd definitely appreciate a simple video to educate us on how the IRB points system works.

[@Natedawg38]

Well that was a scary year... Hoorayyyyyy! Ireland 🇮🇪 🏉 🇮🇪 🏉 The Best Team in the World Numero Uno The big kahuna Rugbius Decimus Meridius The head honcho Kings of Castle Aviva The un-turned-over Squad leader The alpha and the omega Top pimp The Drop Goal Daredevil Gods Masters of the universe Lord of the Rings Jurassic Park And so on. Shout out to our boys in the south Argentina 🇦🇷 💙 🙌 Alliance?

[@Nobodyokbro]

Cool how many wc. World cups semis quarters hahah😂. How many of your players are not irish. 8/23 not more. Losing stats against nz,sa,France wales scotland england etc. Absolutely shite. Argentina here

[@conorredmond6217]

'argentina here' lol... You're clearly a bok bud... Which is all good, just weird you're pretending to be from Argentina to give some sort of weight to your insults..

[@randomlyfactual1943]

​@@Nobodyokbroseriously dude?

[@CaptNeeda]

@@Nobodyokbrolosing stats? Not recently you muppet

[@garechmurphy6348]

​@@NobodyokbroThere is always one.

[@5BoB]

Pretty sure most of us dont mind. Happy with what we have achieved so far this year. 4-1 in the RC, getting the trophy next week end. Got the freedom cup back. 7 to 10 changes per game, developing the players amd team depth. Id say the Boks are in a insanely good spot.

[@PB22559]

You didn't make any changes for the 2 Irish games though. Rassie put out his very best side and was DYING to win that series. All the talk from the bok camp and pundits was that the series would be to decide who the best side is. There was no hype coming from the Irish camp or media. The only Irish/saffer pundit who predicted Ireland would win the 2nd test was Cj Stander. Funny, how even with home advantage, they still couldn't beat the Irish. Right after the Irish won the 2nd test, the predictable boks reverted back to 'but we won the world cup so we're no. 1' lol

[@aonghus3860]

SA will be back at number 1 by the end of the week, and rightly so. From an Ireland supporter

[@truthbetold8233]

I don't think that's possible. That's simply not how the rankings work

[@aonghus3860]

@@truthbetold8233 They won't go back top if they beat Argentina and win the RC?

[@truthbetold8233]

@@aonghus3860 no, they won't get any points at all for a win, because Argentina's ranking is too far below their own (Mark touches on this near the end of the video).

[@randomlyfactual1943]

No I think Argentina is too low for us to get points off it. The SH tours to NH are the next opportunity. On a tangent, I think we should do what we used to have wmin test cricket - have a sceptre or mace trophy for the #1 side.

[@jimmyobrien8738]

​@@randomlyfactual19437 points the difference so south Africa can take points

[@RoyBattyLives]

Woohoo, we’re on top!! Where’s our trophy??

[@ContendformyFaith]

You know you guys are allergic to trophies 😂

[@jimmyobrien8738]

​@@ContendformyFaithno 6 nation trophies?

[@Kid_Senekal]

Very little between top 4/5 sides. If top 5 played other 4 teams I doubt any team would be unbeaten.

[@randomlyfactual1943]

And that doesn't include Argentina yet even.

[@Kid_Senekal]

@@randomlyfactual1943 Yes absolutely. And on their day the Pumas can beat any of them - especially at home or on neutral soil.

[@jamesgodsonodoherty7345]

Any chance of a PNC team of the tournament?

[@Trajan2401]

Ireland deserve the number 1 spot they beat SA in Ireland beat SA in SA beat SA at the world cup and beat SA 4 of the last 5 tests.

[@neilmontgomery3470]

I think it should be seen as a form guide rather than a ranking of absolute quality. So if I understand you correctly Ireland will retain the number one spot until the Autumn Internationals at least?

[@dunphymarc]

Correct

[@Karma-qt4ji]

It is neither. It is a table of points accumulated / conceded and that is all. Apart from the RWC draw it has no real meaning other than bragging rights.

[@PB22559]

@@Karma-qt4ji The rankings are based on consistency which is why Ireland are no.1. Only 3 losses in 25 games.

[@Camcolito]

It's both.

[@Camcolito]

@@Karma-qt4ji No it isn't, it takes into account relative team strength and is self-correcting. It's not perfect but quite accurate. Of course, lots of people pretend not to understand it when it doesn't suit them. Well again, nothing has meaning unless you assign some to it, that's sport. We hear a lot of "nothing matters except the World Cup", usually most loudly from fans whose teams just lost a game outside the World Cup.

[@charlottescott7150]

The rankings are crazy but interesting

[@kiaoragin]

Its nice for Ireland to be at #1 but its nothing new to us now. Most Irish supporters know that a #1 ranking does not mean you are the best team. Ireland have to win a WC to be best. First lets get past a QF.

[@PB22559]

Great trolling from 2cents. That smirk said it all lol Thousands of saffers are waiting for their electricity to be turned back on to tell us about their 4 world cup wins in case we'd all forgotten.

[@DevinZA]

We haven't actually had loadshedding since April this year and comments about us like this is the exact reason why we sing from the rooftops about the teams championships and have something positive to celebrate about our nation.

[@PB22559]

@@DevinZA Only having a laugh mate. Good to hear that problems are getting solved in SA.

[@Wall1s_]

@@DevinZABit insensitive, slight malice.

[@PB22559]

@@Wall1s_ Slight malice ? lol Don't be so sensitive and stop looking for reasons to be offended.

[@thomasVA9707]

The Fast and the furious....... Living life a quarter final at a time😂😂😂😂😂

[@Mrtalbotf]

It settles the debate on who is the best team in the world now 😆

[@mikedee171]

1 to 5 are very close. Each capable of beating each other. Argentina very close.

[@Hibernia63]

Thanks for these vids in particular - the world rankings confuse the head off me when I look at them myself! So if I understand it properly - when Ireland play the ABs and Los Pumas in Nov, no matter who wins, nobody will get any points??

[@iansutton4619]

Ireland can only gain points if they beat the All Black in Nov. Nothing from the other test as you add 3 ranking points for home advantage, and a win does not count if you are 10 or more point (incl. the 3 for home adv.) ahead of your opposition. SA will go back top if both Ireland and SA win all their matches as SA will gain points from two of their games as they are away from home . As there is nothing between the top ranked teams, winning all the matches will be very hard. The ranking are great for maths geeks, but the joy is in the rugby been played and great community of supporters from all countries. Looking forward to seeing the Southern Hemisphere teams up north this November!

[@Hibernia63]

@@iansutton4619 Thanks so much mate - think I have it now! 🙂

[@mrwelshmun]

The rankings are fair

[@Forest9528]

Sa on top but otherwise fair

[@johnmc3862]

​@@Forest9528Fair! SA lost to Irl and Argentina.

[@jackdarby8904]

I would say the rankings look very fair.

[@ItsBellers]

As strange and undeserving as it is to go number 1 without doing anything the salty bok reactions are pretty funny

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah you could say Ireland did nothing. Or you could say the current ranking is the culmination of all the hard work over the last few years 😅

[@ItsBellers]

@@TwoCentsRugbyI think we’re definitely there or there about and our consistently high win rate over the last few years is standing to us. Does feel strange to get promoted in the off season for our international team though

[@readesiun988]

Considering the Boks were taking double points for all their wins during the WC which inflated their points tally, they have through lack of consistency with a run of 6 test wins after losing to Ireland in the WC to losing to Ireland in S.A. followed by another 6 wins then losing to Argentina. Where Ireland went on a 17 win run in 2022-23, so Ireland certainly did the work and gained most of the points the hard way.

[@loughrey101]

@@TwoCentsRugby you couldn’t say they did nothing because the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere International test calendars are different. Ireland did their work in the six Nations earlier in the year when they beat France away, Scotland, Wales, and Italy to retain their six nations title. They also beat South Africa away in July. They’ve played and beaten more top six opposition than South Africa have this year. They were playing earlier in the year when South Africa were doing nothing. both South Africa and Ireland have bought seen two defeats this year but Ireland lost to a 5th ranked team while South Africa lost to a 7th ranked team. This is what people don’t factor in, that European nations have already finished their competition and now it is the southern hemisphere that are completing their competition.

[@Karma-qt4ji]

Bok fan here. It is neither strange nor undeserving. The ranking is a points table and it is every teams job to get and keep their points. Right now, Ireland have more points than any other team so are fairly on top of that heap.

[@dasati3168]

Oh boy.. saffas aren't going to like this

[@TwoCentsRugby]

If they get their hands on TRC trophy at the end of this week I'm sure it'll be fine 😁

[@gezzarandom]

I don’t think they’ll care, they’ll just want to get The Rugby Championship wrapped up.

[@randomlyfactual1943]

Oh, we just loooooove this. But yeah as the man said, if we win the RC trophy, all will be good!

[@Magz-101]

Well, we won the World Cup not being no.1, both in 2019 and 2023. We care about the Web Ellis so enjoy your ranking

[@georgefrederikoosthuizen891]

We dont care about bias ranking and argies deserved and earned the win...sa won many hot nothing points or 0.20 and onetime 1 deducted more then 2points for loosing 1point is theft bias ,but like said dont care..

[@markosullivan6109]

Generally the ranking really good. What I don’t like is how Argentina lost a World Cup semi and 3rd 4th play off and lost points compared to Ireland who didn’t get that far. Perhaps world rankings should reset each 4 years to the World Cup results. That’s the pinnacle event.

[@Waywind420]

There was an article recently that highlighted how inflated the Springboks points rating actually was. Was a good read and aligns with how I view the boks. Not participating in the 2020 tri nations meant they were able to bank the points accumulated at the 2019 world cup and points won at world cups are also given at a bonus rate. Good to see the number 1 team actually match the ranking finally. Go Ireland.

[@Con-pt1gk]

Brilliant display Argentina

[@jimbo1706]

Ranking is just a form indicator. Irelands reflects their form and Boks reflects theirs. Simple. The WC win was offset by double points for SA. We're both exactly where we should be

[@jimbo1706]

Ireland will have to survive Pumas and ABs in Nov or tumble

[@Karma-qt4ji]

@@jimbo1706 Ireland only have to survive the AB's for 60 minutes.

[@alanoppel7485]

@@Karma-qt4ji hot damn this f'ing guy ....too soon....too soon 🤣

[@jimbo1706]

@@Karma-qt4ji naughty naughty 😁

[@davidwalker2402]

@@jimbo1706nah England to beat SA they move to 4th thats their true ranking 😂😂😂

[@ilmarlatti]

fair reflection

[@lawLess-fs1qx]

rankings are the League competition. Best reflection of everyones position.

[@dougerrohmer]

Here's a plan: When South Africa goes over to play England, Scotland and Wales, we should challenge Ireland to pop over for a game. The game can be played as a curtain raiser for one of the above, we would put one of our teams up for that and then we will use the second team right afterwards as the main game. Kinda make a world record, who else has ever won two test matches back to back? I like it!

[@johngarveyire]

The third game... I likey

[@ColinGrealy]

If you look at the last year or so of games, Ireland and SA have played 3 times, with Ireland winning 2 of them. Outside of that both teams have a similar win rate, so this feels like a fair reflection. Boks aren’t suddenly a bad team. (And while we’re at it, neither are the ABs, they’re just no longer the best in the world)

[@potheadtoker11]

Wow,the hubris.

[@davidwalker2402]

@@potheadtoker11you only sing when you’re winning 🤣

[@ColinGrealy]

@@potheadtoker11 sure, if by hubris, you mean “accurate summary of the last year of international rugby”. 🤣🤣

[@JD-qn5dv]

​@@potheadtoker11 womp womp, enjoy being no. 2 😂

[@7seven243]

I Dont only blame manie for the loss Moerat is not test level nevermind captain Siya should stay on the field Mapimpi had a Horrible test Our defence was nowhere Time to end the experiments train But well done pumas and even Australia from 🇿🇦 Nice video!!

[@Magz-101]

And Thomas du Toit was great? How about the Man of the match performance by BJ Dickson? And Cobus Reinach’s super fast pace. How can we forget Marco Van Staden taking no prisoners like Siya?

[@emjay8731]

😂😂😂​@Magz-101 keep them coming please

[@7seven243]

@@Magz-101 👍 agreed thanks mate

[@truthbetold8233]

Try adjusting the color on your TV a little.

[@7seven243]

@@truthbetold8233 of course 😪😉

[@davepenn7774]

there should be extra points for winning the rugby championship the same way there is for the world cup. in which case south africa should go number one next week, altho if thats the case ireland probably should have got exstra points for winning the six nations, so this doesn't make the situation any less complicated lol

[@MarcelAspenite]

🇮🇪💪🏾go on you good thing!🇮🇪💪🏾#1

[@thembamadi]

Boks stuffed themselves for the year. I fear we will not have any movements

[@Hadleurslf]

Ranked #1 is earned. Congrats to Los Pumas

[@Greg-ql8yt]

@two cents - do you ever do a trend (5-10-15 year view)? Assume it shows gradual decline of our beloved ABs, the rise of Ireland, collapse of Aus & Wales …. Apart from Ireland anyone on a strong upward trajectory?

[@ccahill2322]

@Greg-ql8yt. More bullsh3t. Must keep the money coming in. We've heard it all before. Meantime "Ireland" actually sinks.

[@creekyknee]

Georgia. Look at how well they are improving at underage.

[@peadarr]

South Africa? 6 years ago they were abysmal, and believe it or not, they need this weekend to win their first ever full form rugby championship,

[@Greg-ql8yt]

@@peadarr - true - they’ve never got back their pre-isolation level of consistency…

[@peadarr]

@@ccahill2322if you followed Ireland through the entire professional era, you’d see a team that has had more success with every single coach than the previous one since Gatland in the nineties. 90s - Ireland are so bad, they’re the whipping boys of the 5 nations. Literally didn’t win a match against Scotland for the entire decade (how those tables have turned) Under Gatland, started winning games, becoming a teams that had to be taken seriously, top half of the 6 nations Under O Sullivan, regularly second in the six nations, first triple crown in decades Kidney, first grand slam in 61 years, first time topping a RWC group after beating Australia in 2011 Schmidt - continued the trend, first time beating the All blacks and winning more 6ns, briefly hitting number 1 ranking. And now Farrell, Ireland have spent more time at number 1 than any other team in the last 4 years, won a 3 match series in NZ, drew a series in SA. It’s not just talk that Ireland have been on an upward trajectory, what’s mostly missing from the conversation is that it started long before Schmidt took the reins.

[@josecastel7163]

The rankings don’t really reflect the best teams in the world but are fair

[@Wide-eye]

In year 2022 J Nienaber made 14 changes to Bok side v Wales and lost. But developed squad to win WCup. Rassie now on two occasions made 10 changes and lost one. But he earned the 1 bonus point he required against Argies. SA now on 19 points. Argies has a tough task. They require 5 points to equal SA without SA earning a bonus point. Then Argies will win the Championship - first countout having beaten SA twice. That SA has at moment +37 points more than Argies and that they have to beat SA by 38 points is then not applicable. Making big changes affects SA on the World Points List and appears if SA coaches are not much concerned. If coming Saturday SA beat Argies they might be top of list again. Some top players of SA did not go to Argentina to rest and will certainly strenthen SA side for last test v Argies. In year 2019 Ireland were no. 1 on points list and lost to Japan at WCup. I think SA was 5th and won WCup. To be top of list, does it mean much. SA was no.1 and got beaten by Ireland in reasent 2nd test.

[@peadarr]

It’s funny, I think SA have a better claim (but still not undisputed) to the “best in the world” tag than they did before the championship. Really what had they done other than win 3 games in a row by a point, 1 against the worst English team in history and another against a 14 man all blacks. Drawing a series at home didn’t help the cause. However being RWC champions and backing that up with winning a full length rugby championship definitely makes you ask “if not them, then who?” Even if the rankings disagree

[@AbeHopwood]

Worst English team in history? Not sure about that.... but that says a lot about how good they must be since the worst English side in history nearly beat the "best" SA side

[@peadarr]

@@AbeHopwood they have improved since, but at the time, they were empirically the worst English team in history. They just lost to Fiji in the run up to the RWC. And that’s my point, SA’s win against France was really impressive but before that, they lost to Ireland and then just scraped past a mediocre England in the semis

[@AbeHopwood]

@@peadarr I can defo agree with that. Still don't think SA should be number 1 though, that absolutely goes to Ireland and will be that way for a while I think. Only way I see ireland losing that top spot is if england or France have a good six nations next year, and honestly, when you look at the fixtures for next year's six nations, it's pretty much set up to be an ireland grand slam

[@chesterdonnelly1212]

I'm not a big fan of the World Rankings or the World Rugby Nations League, but the world league will make the rankings fairer.

[@ShaneMcG7855]

I guess it's a bitter pill to swollow for SAs. Number 1 is number 1. Ireland is simply the better team over a longer period of time, even without a World Cup. Congratulations, Ireland, currently the best team in the world.

[@Coreylahey1000]

Ah come on Shaneo...its a toss up really. It's not like the old days of the AB's being 5-10 points clear

[@ShaneMcG7855]

@@Coreylahey1000 No different to winning World Cup games by a point yet SA still own the World Cup. No1 takes that away.

[@Gutless-diesel]

So if Argentina win this weekend do they lift the trophy or do they have to win by a big margin or how does it work

[@mikhailswartz]

They have to win with a bonus point AND deny the Boks a losing Bonus point. Arg are on 14. The Boks on 19. If Arg win with Bonus point the teams will be equal on 19 and the Head to Head deciding factor will favour Arg, giving them the championship win. If they win (even with a bonus point) but allow the Boks a losing bonus point the Boks end on 20 and win the Championship. If Arg win without a bonus point, then they automatically don't win the championship.

[@x-latetv-x6816]

​@@mikhailswartzso arg have to outscore boks by 3 tries, that will never happen

[@karlosdeevs]

@@x-latetv-x6816 never say never

[@Mojo16011973]

Proper order restored. Most consistent side in the last 4 years.

[@Vlerkies]

Hehe, won nothing

[@liquidrhinogaming3513]

This guy

[@willydebeer2350]

.....😂

[@Nobodyokbro]

@portorportor8247 Who is in your head it's not the semis or the finals. It's how can we buy more nz players yes more ns players. We are shite we are shite who are we who are who are we we are shite. We are shite. We are we are shite. Csnt win without our nz and aus players. Lol lol lol

[@Nobodyokbro]

@@portorportor8247 Haven't won't anything either

[@MrOrange187]

Give Ireland the Rugby Championship! They deserve it!

[@dunphymarc]

As a irish fan the current rugby world champions are number 1 (boks). Happy to be in the conversation.

[@PB22559]

Yes, we all know SA won the world cup, winning all their KO games by only point and playing against 14 men in the final. NZ used to hammer most sides regularly but they sometimes failed to win world cups. The most consistent side is the best side and Ireland are only 3 losses in 25 games. Last 5 games between the boks and Ireland. Ireland 4 wins. SA only 1. Two of those games were in Ireland, two in SA and one in France so no side had an advantage.

[@Camcolito]

As another Irish fan they aren't and don't deserve to be after losing to our B team at home and now to Argentina who are ranked 7th. If/when we drop a game, we'll deserve to drop down the rankings also.

[@randomlyfactual1943]

​@@CamcolitoStop this B team crap. For one, it's very disrespectful towards the brave men that came over here and played out of their skins. For two, its test rugby - you almost NEVER are able to field your strongest side. Farrell picked guys that he thought could do the job, so did Rassie. Lastly, I hear this B team nonsense being bandied about, but I never hear of the retirement of Duane Vermeulen, the lengthy bans of Wiese or Esterhuizen, or the injuries to world cup winners Kitshoff, Snyman, Kleyn, Am, Mapimpi or Willemse. You picked your strongest available team, we picked ours. You had a few young names on your team sheets, we had a few as well.

[@Steve-gr6jm]

​@@Camcolito Can you not? We've had an entire year of them trolling us. The win in SA put a cap on it. Don't open up that Pandora's box of venom again.

[@Camcolito]

@@randomlyfactual1943 It was a severely weakened team with a host of nailed-on starters missing, that's just a fact of the matter. It's not comparable to some Bok "World Cup winners" being unavailable who may or may not have started or even featured. Having just won the last two world cups, sure you don't need reminding of that at least, it would be expected that quite a few world cup winners would be in your squad.. And yes, our boys played out of their skins, two good games. All I'm saying is if teams lose at home and shortly after to a side ranked way below them they shouldn't expect to hang around at 1 in the rankings, and I politely disagree with the deferential attitude of my friend here.

[@dawidmaree5002]

Very tough on a top ranking team

[@karlosdeevs]

@@dawidmaree5002 that‘s the whole point, it’s twice as hard to keep a top seeding compared to when you initially achieve it..

[@limerickman8512]

Ireland not played since the early summer remained no. 2 and became no. 1 without any effort in Autumn.

[@Vlerkies]

not played, or lost. That tells its own story no?

[@Coreylahey1000]

Thanks just how the rankings work lad, probably in most sports. It's not based purely on head to head or championships (though double points are awarded in the WC)

[@Vlerkies]

@@Coreylahey1000 or how their international fixtures are set. lets see after the dream draw on the 30 Nov '24

[@TheContrarianMind]

Ireland doesn’t need to play rugby to reach number 1. They just look at the rankings and the rankings move out of respect.

[@Vlerkies]

@@TheContrarianMind Hehe, sry about the RWC's, no matter we all win some and lose some, it's bloody SPORT! and we love it

[@onwardalone1182]

SA and IRE atop 2 makes sense, NZ and FRA at 3/4 makes sense. ARG and ENG at 4/5 doesnt make sense because SCOTLAND are clearly better than ENGLAND for some time.. The lop sided WC draw is still fogging things slightly

[@JH20132]

It's unfortunate that South Africa have lost the no. 1 rank because they rested players. However, it was very fortunate that they retained it by beating a 14-man team in the RWC final. The fact that Sam Cane deserved his red card is irrelevant to whether RSA are better than Ireland --- it was pure chance that he made such a grave mistake against RSA instead of Ireland. This is one of the biggest unsolvable issues with red cards. Even when they're fair (according to the laws), they create discrepancies between different results. I am certain that Ireland would've beaten a 14-man NZ. Frankly, there is no evidence that South Africa even played better than Ireland at the RWC, following this logic.

[@klagoshaya5517]

There’s a new world order in rugby and Argentina are knocking on the door to join the top 5.

[@johnomahony1788]

Is calculating the world rankings a one year or two year masters course ?? In the Autumn internationals.... Ireland to beat The All Blacks, Fiji and Australia but to be pipped by Argentina. Filipe Contapomi knows Irish rugby v well.

[@darren1989]

We are great atm , probably our greatest team ever but we shouldn't be ahead of SA ...Won the world cup less than a year ago and i think only lost 2 games since. Us and Argentina

[@creekyknee]

We kicked their asses at home, of course we should be number one. They have had one lucky win against us in Pretoria in that first test and we stuffed them in the previous 3 meetings. Beating SA is no big deal for us anymore, its like riding a bike. Once you know how to do it, its easy. Even the Argies are beating them regularly now. They are a spent force, look at how easy it was for Glasgow (a Scottish club !) and Munster to put them to the sword in the URC in the last two years. The mighty ABs still hold a lot of fear for Ireland when we play them, we respect the French and the English but its easy to turn over the Bokkes. They are like lambs to the slaughter if the truth be told when they play us.

[@darren1989]

@@creekyknee you're prob the only one of us irish that believe that. We.got a last kick of the game drop goal winner to beat them and in the world cup it was an epic game but we won by 5 but for what? We lost the quarter and they beat France and New Zealand to win back to back world cup...On our day we can beat them for sure , eventually matched with them but they just have that extra thing thag we don't when it comes down to the nitty gritty stuff to get over the line and win the big world cup knockout games . As for other teams. Leinster can't win and we have literally 80% of the irish team

[@odrankeane-teague1601]

While its funny to see the pointless bickering between Ireland/SA its crazy to think that NZ are still ranked 3rd but have not been playing like a team that deserves the no.3 spot on fhe rankings.

[@AbeHopwood]

They'll lose it in the autumn. I genuinely think they'll lose to Ireland, France and England, which will push them down to fifth. Maybe even sixth depending on how scotland and Argentina perform. By the end of the year I fully believe the top 3 will be france third, England 2nd and Ireland 1st. I'm probably wrong, but I feel like it's coming. Ireland, England and France will win all their games, which is why it'll end up like that.

[@odrankeane-teague1601]

@@AbeHopwood I see it as Ireland 1st, France 2nd & SA 3rd with England just a sliver behind on 4th. I definitely see NZ ending the year as 5th or worse. Razor only has 6 or so weeks before they come over here. I also think Argentina are Dark horses & if they got their shit together for next year they would be a really good team that could beat anyone if everything fell in place for them.

[@edwardeohoorn8621]

Bok rankings gets drop pretty quickly, but somehow when they beat team, all off a sudden they can't take points from the teams they've beaten. Weird just simply weird.

[@conneltheunissen2997]

The Springboks are not more than 10 points ahead so surely they can take points

[@jamesgill6213]

Ireland beat SA in SA

[@LeinsterExile]

I don't think the world ranking makes a lot of sense or difference as far as number 7 (Scotland). Any of the first 7 could beat any other of the first 7 on a given day. Where the ranking does count is for the lower ranked teams where they can actually see actual progression.

[@eatmyshamrock]

Scotland could theoretically beat any of the top 6, but they haven't displayed an ability to beat the top 3. They're a bogey team for France and England but that's about it, there's still a ways to go for Scotland. I agree with your fundamental point though, the rankings don't mean all that much for Tier 1 nations outside of RWC seeding

[@cbarry88]

Given our form, this is a fair reflection, however, we don't get carried away with rankings. As a team, we rank easily within the top three, but until we win a world cup, we still have a lot to accomplish.

[@paulhayes6575]

Ireland is a proper team and playing them is a true test. Lots of SA carry Irish surnames and Ireland remain my second favourite team

[@Natedawg38]

Same page

[@benbryan4468]

11th!?! oh dear oh dear oh dear

[@hansdedipper2912]

🔴 Shows you the IMPORTANCE of NOT MISSING GOALKICKS

[@silverfang1122]

South Africa would have to beat Argentina by more than 15 points in the next game to regain the no. 1 spot

[@roscomroe84]

They won't, even if they beat them by 100. More than 10 points difference in the rankings with the plus 3 points home advantage.

[@Samizouza]

Yep, I don't think these teams 🇿🇦🇳🇿 will get any ranking points for winning except their opponents 🇦🇷 🇦🇺 if they win presumably.

[@fallschirmjager0000]

This is fair, south africa have beaten Ireland once in the last 8 years. And only a month or so ago Ireland beat them in their own back yard

[@patman142]

we haven't played a game in months but we are number 1, ok

[@x-latetv-x6816]

How exactly can ireland change their points if they dont play🤷 and south africa didnt play rugby in february or march

[@karlosdeevs]

@@patman142 You can give a big thank you to all them Argies😁

[@PB22559]

@@x-latetv-x6816 Irelands pts didn't change. SA lost pts due to losing to a side ranked 7th

[@x-latetv-x6816]

@@PB22559 i know but i dont know what patman is expecting

[@Camcolito]

@@x-latetv-x6816 It's not that complicated, I suggest remedial junior maths.

[@MarkTrudgeonRulez]

Cause we are number 1, from a Paddy Safa!!!!

[@caius8614]

A Paddy Saffa? Fuck your teams have been eating well recently lol.

[@eoinoconnor8996]

Back where we belong. The top of the mountain. Better luck next time bokkies

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Wish you guys were scheduled another game in November!

[@DAN19L85]

😂

[@romaan843]

Better luck next time in the Quarters😆

[@x-latetv-x6816]

​@@romaan843have to get past the last 16 first🤣

[@Camcolito]

@@x-latetv-x6816 At least we don't rely on other results to get out of our pool ;)

[@toad6661]

Back on top baby 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪

[@_peepyopee]

Wallabies by 4+ on the weekend