Best Rugby Countries 2024

South Africa

World Rugby Rankings place South Africa as number one in the world as of March 21, 2022. Wales will visit South Africa for the first time since they lost 38-16 to South Africa in Durban. What’s probably more crushing for Wales is losing by only one point in Nelspruit, but Wales is a multiple Triple Crown winner.

France

France has a March 2022 number two ranking. They won 54% of the 776 test matches they have ever played by 2022, and they compete in the World Cup and Six Nation tournaments. The men’s team won the March 20, 2022, Six Nation Championship match against England with a final score of 25-13.

New Zealand

New Zealand’s March 2022 ranking is three. This country will play Ireland in July 2022. They reportedly have a 77% test game-winning ratio but used to rank number one from 2009-2019 and in 2021.

Ireland

In 2022, Ireland won 29-7 over Wales. Unfortunately, they lost to France the following week, but this nation ranks number four on the list of the best rugby countries as of March 2022. Ireland’s most recent Triple Crown win happened in 2022, for a total of 12 crowns by this time.

England

Of all the other teams in the Northern Hemisphere, England became the first one to win the Rugby World Cup, which occurred in 2003. They currently rank the fifth-best men’s rugby country as of March 2022, and they did have a recent Triple Crown win in 2020.

Women’s Teams 2022 Report

England

The England women’s rugby team won 16 of the 24 matches they played when competing in the Six Nations Championships that take place every year. This team holds the number one best country slot as of March 2022.

New Zealand

Currently, at a March 2022 second overall best ranking, they won five out of the six most recent World Cup matches for the sport prior to this time. They have a test match-winning record of 84.1.

France

France ranks number three among all Rugby teams. They played their first international in the Netherlands in 1982, and the French women’s team beat Italy 39-6 on March 27th, 2022 when competing in a Six Nations match.

Canada

This country has ranked fifth best of all rugby teams it plays against as of March 2022. They won against the United States twice in 2021.

Australia

In March 2022, the country ranked fourth overall for the teams it plays against. They apparently may become a candidate to become the 2029 World Cup host.