After a month of scintillating rugby, the international game is done for 2025. This Autumn, the Springboks asserted their dominance once more, New Zealand couldn’t claim a Grand Slam as an unbeaten England side exposed their flaws in Twickenham. Argentina impressed with an incredible comeback against a Scottish side that just can’t seem to get over the line. France were up and down, Wales started the Steve Tandy era where Gatland had left off showing only slim slithers of hope. Ireland couldn’t dispel the concerns of their regression, whilst Japan entertained, showing signs of growth, and Fiji were once more a team you just don’t want to play against. In one of the results of the month, Italy toppled the Wallabies who will just be glad to go back home.
We published a power rankings just before the Nations Series, which you can check out here, and now we revisit our standings. Who has climbed up the rankings? Who has fallen down? Let’s look at how the teams stack up as we move into 2026.
1 South Africa
Previous Ranking: 1 ↔
What more is there to be said about this team? This has been such an impressive Autumn from the Boks. It’s hard to think that this is a team that lost at home in the first round of the Rugby Championship to Australia. Throughout this season though the Springboks have elevated their game to a level we’ve not seen since the 2015 All Blacks. I know they’ve won the last two World Cups, but this version of South Africa is significantly better than both the 2019 and 2023 teams. Obviously they have unrelenting power, a brutal scrum and world class talent throughout the side. What’s special though is that this has become one of the highest performing teams across all sport. They are currently epitomising organisational excellence. Their culture within the squad is incredibly special, the way they all buy in, are totally selfless and clearly get on great as a group. It doesn’t matter if they are playing with 15 or 14 men, they have the grit and character to overcome almost anything. The first thing they do is they never beat themselves (the odd red card aside). They don’t give anything away easily and they are so hard to play against. Defensively they are aggressive and resolute, offensively they are accurate and clinical. This team is really special and we should just enjoy getting to watch excellence.
2 France
Previous Ranking: 2 ↔
Their loss to South Africa in Paris was clearly disappointing for this squad. They had built up the fixture and were out for revenge after South Africa stole their World Cup from them two years ago. France showed just how dangerous they can be in that game but ultimately they weren’t accurate enough and were simply beaten by a better side. I do think they are the one team that can stand up to the Boks still though. Although they need to be healthier to do so. They were missing a few key players this November, the main one being Antoine Dupont. I actually called them to beat South Africa, even without their other-worldly scrum half. Turns out that the absence of the greatest player ever is actually quite a big deal.
The good news for France is that Dupont is back, playing for Toulouse against Racing in his first game back from his ACL tear. Come the 6 Nations Les Bleus will be back to their best and I fancy them to claim a Grand Slam. They’ll have England and Ireland at home this year so it’s hard to see anyone stopping them.
A word as well has to go to Louis Bielle-Biarrey. What a year the 22-year-old has had. For me he was the best player in the world in 2025 so I can’t wait to see what he does next.
3 England
Previous Ranking: 6 ↑
A perfect 4 from 4 for England this November. They came in with expectations high and somehow managed to exceed them with their victory over the All Blacks. As good as they were, they very nearly lost to Argentina at the end which would have dampened the mood and shows that this team is still far from perfect. Ultimately though, this team has figured out how to win and they’ve made a habit of it. I’m not convinced that this side is better than New Zealand overall, but after winning 11 straight games they deserved to sit 3rd in these rankings.
They’re building nicely with strong depth and some genuine quality in the side. George Ford is playing arguably the best rugby of his career and steers this team around the park expertly. I love to see a player utilise the drop goal as Ford has done recently. It’s such a weapon and one that is massively underutilised. Plus it gets the Twickenham crowd really going. That is the one thing that stops you getting too high on this England win streak though, almost all their big wins this year have come at Twickenham. They’ll face some tough away trips in the upcoming 6 Nations that will be the next big test for this team.
What’s great about England right now, and it’s similar to what I was saying with the Boks, they don’t beat themselves. They are strong at set piece, tough to break down defensively and they don’t give away freebies. England scored a couple of tries this Autumn from just pouncing on opposition mistakes. Once is luck, twice is a coincidence and three times is a pattern. England seem to have made a habit of getting what would otherwise be seen as lucky, but I firmly believe you make your own luck and England are clearly doing something right.
4 New Zealand
Previous Ranking: 3 ↓
After a strong performance in Chicago to beat Ireland, the All Blacks had a poor rest of their Grand Slam tour. They won in Murrayfield thanks to the brilliance of Damian McKenzie – what a trump card to have in your hand by the way! Although Kiwi fans would question why they let Scotland back into a game they were in full control of. Then to follow that up with a poor performance against England and suddenly there is real pressure on this All Blacks coaching staff and squad.
They still have brilliant players, are capable of playing to an incredibly high standard, and can beat anyone on their day. There are real concerns about their accuracy and game management though. I do feel they have a tendency to overplay in their own half and that can end up giving their opposition too many easy ins. The other challenge they have is depth. This squad isn’t like the All Blacks teams of prior seasons where they could beat almost anyone with their second team. When they pick up a couple injuries in the pack, they don’t quite have the talent to step in and keep up the same high standard. At their best they are very physical, although they struggle to bring that consistently right now.
Overall, I’m definitely higher on the All Blacks than the general consensus, and I probably do deep down believe they should be 3rd on this list, but England have earnt that spot so New Zealand have to settle for 4th until they can prove their quality again next year.
5 Argentina
Previous Rankings: 8 ↑
Too many wins and too many great results to languish down in 8th on these rankings. Argentina were so close to a perfect Autumn, after another good Rugby Championship. They were mightily impressive in Cardiff in the opening round, before making the comeback of the season in Murrayfield. They almost repeated their heroics in Twickenham a week later but it wasn’t to be. They have just so much talent in their side right now, particularly in the backline. Their backs are peppered with world class players, and players that can create. So many of these players are playing at some of Europe’s best and most successful clubs which is helping Argentina develop a winning mentality. They are one of the most dangerous sides around on the counterattack, a crucial ability to have when building an elite team. It makes such a difference when you can make teams pay for mistakes and score quick points.
We do still have to acknowledge though that Argentina need to get more consistent. They obviously have the ability to be really good, but they can’t be letting sides get out to big leads on them and expect to win consistently. They need to deliver for 80mins to elevate themselves to be a top 4 side. They are making great progress though, and this is as good as I’ve felt about them for a long time.
6 Ireland
Previous Ranking: 4 ↓
So it does kind of seem like the concerns around Ireland’s regression are real, at least to some extent. Ireland have had a golden generation over the last few seasons, started under Joe Schmidt and taken to its peak under Andy Farrell. This culminated in their players dominating selection on the recent Lions tour, although the real peak for this side was two years ago. They’ve been on a steady regression since then. There are green shoots though, they are still an experienced, well coached and quality side. Although where a couple years ago they were incredibly accurate, hard to break down and ruthlessly clinical, they now can feel quite error prone. Against South Africa they got destroyed physically but at the same time a lot of it was self-inflicted. The James Ryan red card was a wildly stupid act, and the Crowley yellow was totally unnecessary.
Leading into the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Ireland received just 3 yellow cards in 29 games. Since then, they have had 19 yellows and 3 reds in a 22 game stretch. This is probably the best stat to show how things have changed. The discipline you need to pick up only 3 yellow cards in 29 games is seriously impressive. That’s the sign of a really high performing team. Ireland have lost their excellence. I don’t necessarily think this is down to talent or individual ability. They just aren’t operating at an elite level anymore, it’s just good.
Still, they have underlying class and fight, just look at how they actually did manage to stick in that game against South Africa, despite it feeling extremely one sided. They aren’t meeting their high expectations right now, but they are still a good team.
7 Scotland
Previous Ranking: 7 ↔
No change for Scotland in these rankings, as they lost their two big games this November. I’m still quite bullish on this team, they just haven’t convinced me that they can make that next jump. They were really not that far away from beating both New Zealand – which would have been an incredible result for a nation that’s never beaten the All Blacks – and Argentina. It’s that last 20 minutes though. Scotland have been thoroughly outscored in all their big games this year in the last 20 minutes of matches. This is really what’s holding them back. They can look brilliant for large parts of games but they just aren’t able to close.
This has caused a lot of calls for Scotland to make a coaching change, with Gregor Townsend on the hot seat. I’m not sure I really have an opinion on that one. Townsend has done a brilliant job taking this Scottish side from where they were when he took over to where they are now. The fact that they are frustrated by losing narrowly to New Zealand shows just how far Scotland have come and crucially how much their expectations have raised. On the flip side, sometimes the people that get you from A to B can be brilliant at that role but might not be best to take you from B to C. Perhaps Townsend can be a great coach who has done a great job and still not be the best one to take this team forward. Like I said though, I don’t really have an opinion on this one.
What I would say is that expectations are key. Scotland have excited fans to the point where they now want silverware. Whilst Scotland have a very talented starting 15, they have the smallest playing base and least resources of the major international teams. Football is the number one sport in Scotland, and it’s not a big country like England, South Africa or France. Depth is a real issue but it’s also to be expected. If they can stay fully healthy then perhaps this team can mount a challenge in the 6 Nations. They get France and England at home which will be huge for them. They just need to make sure they beat an underperforming Wales, win in Rome and then finally get that win over Ireland.
8 Australia
Previous Ranking: 5 ↓
Hard to imagine how the Nations Series could have gone worse for Australia. I must admit, I feel a little silly now for being as bullish as I was on this team a month ago. What’s really disappointing is that they limped into the Lions series, were overpowered in the first test, but then they turned things around. With Skelton and Valetini back for the 2nd test, the Wallabies stormed out to a lead. Sadly for them it wasn’t a lead they were able to hang onto but they returned the next week to comfortably beat the tourists. Things were looking on the up for Australia, and then they went and beat South Africa in Durban in what ended up being emphatic fashion. That unfortunately was Australia’s peak for 2025. From that moment onwards, performances got gradually worse. Tom Wright and Tate McDermott picked up season ending injuries and the Wallabies came into their Spring tour underpowered. Regardless of their injuries, 4 losses from 4 is hard to qualify.
My take on Australia right now is that they have some world class players but they lack depth and it makes it difficult for them to find an identity. At full strength, with Skelton (who’s barely available for them), Tupou, Bell, McReight and Valetini in the pack, and Ikitau, Wright and Sua’ali’i behind the scrum, this team can play route 1 power and be highly effective. When they are missing some of these guys then they can’t overpower teams. It’s in those moments where they seem to lose their direction. A major part of that is they don’t have an answer at rugby’s most important position, fly-half. James O’Conner is their only international calibre option right now but they don’t want to tie themselves to an older player. I don’t know which of these young players will emerge as the long term solution at 10. My best guess is Carter Gordon now he’s back from the NRL. But it’s very unclear.
I do believe Australia will be a force to reckon with come their home World Cup in 2027, but they have slipped a little behind schedule in their rebuild.
9 Italy
Previous Ranking: 10 ↑
So Rassie Erasmus, in a recent press conference, predicted that Italy will have their best 6 Nations ever and finish 3rd in 2026. I’m not sure I’m fully buying into that prediction but I am very excited to see Italy perhaps take that next step. They came out of this Nations Series with about as good a record as they could have hoped for, beating Australia and Chile but losing to the all-conquering Springboks. Even in that loss, they were highly competitive for large parts of the game and there were moments where they definitely would have had South African fans worried. I mean they had Rassie worried enough to make 4 subs in the opening 25 minutes.
The half backs are vital for any team and it was really pleasing to see Stephen Varney step up and play some of his best rugby for Italy this month. Perhaps his move to Exeter has helped him, and if he can keep progressing then that will be a big boost for Italy. There are still a lot of work ons for them and they’ll need to prove their progress in the 6 Nations, but the win over the Wallabies was no fluke. This team is talented and has been building nicely for a few years. I want to see them take that next step but wins like their one against Australia are exactly the type of progress you hope to see from Italy. If they can now go and get 2 wins in the 6 Nations that would be good, and 3 wins would be great. It’s a tough ask, but I wouldn’t rule it out. With the age profile of their team, they are only going to get better from here.
10 Fiji
Previous Ranking: 11↑
Just the one win for the Flying Fijians this Autumn, but it was a tough schedule, playing England and France, the 2nd and 3rd ranked teams on here. They showed up well in both encounters without really scaring either side that they could claim a famous upset. I think this is just where Fiji are at right now. They’re not going to beat a top 5 side in the world just yet but they are able to make those games competitive and challenging. After winning the Pacific Nations Cup, they have shown they belong in the mid table of international rugby, they just need more fixtures at that level. The Nations Championship next year is going to be great for them. They will get to play all the 6 Nations teams over the course of the year and they’ll get a proper opportunity to grow as a team, playing regular high level rugby. It will go a long way to helping this side build towards the World Cup in 2027 where they’ll target another quarter final.
Fijian rugby is on the up, although this Autumn their fixtures were a little too challenging for them to get a defining win. They did claim their sole victory of the campaign against Spain, getting the job done against a decent side but one they’d have expected to beat. Overall a successful year for Fiji as they prepare for a big couple years for this team.
11 Wales
Previous Ranking: 9 ↓
Wales said at the start of the international window that they wanted to establish an identity. They wanted people to know what this team was about and they wanted to be described as tough, smart and brave. So have they achieved that?
In a word, no. Do Wales have tough players that are brave and give their all? Yes, absolutely. But that’s not what this is about. Wales are not a tough team to play, and they definitely can’t be described as smart. There are two teams that I would describe as tough and smart right now: South Africa and England. They don’t give you freebies, they are accurate and they make you work really hard for every gain. Wales do the opposite. Discipline has been very poor for Wales this Autumn. Over their 4 games they conceded an average of 12.25 penalties per game, winning just 7.25. Against New Zealand it was particularly stark with a 14-4 penalty count against them. At the same time, they played 20 minutes of each of their games down to 14 men. This makes it really difficult to get a foothold in games, particularly when you couple it with an inability to secure ball in the air, a consequence of playing a 5’8” fullback even if he is great in attack. All of this amounted to Wales losing the territory and possession battles in all 4 games, averaging 41.25% territory and 42% possession.
In the final game against South Africa, Wales were massively overpowered by what was basically the biggest possible lineup that the world’s most powerful team could select. On the whole though, I don’t think Wales have a big issue in that area – provided they pick the right players. The biggest issue Wales have is that they beat themselves. Clean these issues up – and by the way, I think these are fixable issues – and then we might start to really see what the talents of Tomos Williams, Joe Hawkins and Louis Rees-Zammit are capable of.
They’ve got a tough next fixture, away to England, a side that are everything Wales aren’t right now. There are some green shoots, but until Wales stop the self-flagellation then it will be hard to see them flourish. I still have belief in this group, but we need to see progress.
12 Japan
Previous Ranking: 12 ↔
I feel bad putting Japan 12th. They’ve really impressed me this November, playing with pace and quality, and I feel like they should be climbing up the rankings. I just can’t put them ahead of Wales or Fiji who have both beaten them this year. Japan play unlike any other team and that can really challenge sides, just ask Wales who really struggled to contain them. Their speed of ball is what makes their attack unique. Naoto Saito is the Durcell energy bunny that powers this team. The Toulouse scrum half doesn’t waste any time when he gets to the breakdown. He immediately picks up the ball and plays it away, a style that requires his 14 other teammates to be really switched on and in position, but if they do that then it causes a lot of stress on defences.
Against Wales, Japan were probably the better of the two sides and were unlucky not to come away with a win. What they showed in that fixture was a team that are accurate, cohesive and operated at a higher level than their counterparts. At the same time though, Wales were very poor that day, and it’s hard to place Japan above any of the other teams on this list. They still have the issue of lacking size and power compared to the top sides. Although they have made good progress as a team in the last year or so and will look to keep growing. No doubt their head coach, Eddie Jones, will have a plan up his sleeve come the 2027 World Cup. They’re the sort of side you’d worry about if you ended up in their group.