Historic weekend for Scotland in Women's Rankings

As another tangible sign of the continued progress made under long-standing head coach Bryan Easson and captain Rachel Malcolm, Scotland Women are now up to a record high of fifth in the World Rugby Women's Rankings.

While Scotland's 59-15 win over Fiji in the first-ever meeting between the teams at Hive Stadium on Saturday didn't lead to an increase in their rating, Easson's team have moved above Australia courtesy of the Wallaroos' shock 36-10 defeat at the hands of Ireland in Belfast.

Australia conceded more points than ever before in losing to Ireland and that has led to their rating dropping to 76.28 points - half a point fewer than the Scots, who were outside of the top 10 as recently as April 2023.

Scotland's rise to fifth comes on the eve of WXV 2 title defence in Cape Town, where they will look to pick up further points in the rankings. However, it is unlikely that they will make serious inroads into the gap between themselves and France in fourth as they are separated by 10.5 points.

Last year's WXV 3 champions Ireland are also on the up, gaining two places at the expense of USA and Italy. Ireland are still some way short of their best-ever position fourth but seventh place is the highest they’ve been since August 2022.

Meanwhile, USA drop to eighth and Italy to ninth. Italy's reward for beating Japan 24-8 in Piacenza was only 0.09 points, which wasn't enough for them to consolidate their position.

England remain out in front, having preserved their 7.58-point lead over New Zealand with a 24-12 win against the Black Ferns at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.