World Test and Sevens Rankings

At the end of the year we revisit test rankings, which see New Zealand back at the top but the Czech Republic and Japan making the biggest gains. We also look at the sevens ranking, allowing us to find out which nations are top at both forms of the game.

Test ranking

It has been a long time since we last looked in detail at the World Test Rankings (as compiled for us by Serge Piquet) - a sign, perhaps, of how little test-match rugby is played. The last time we published the complete table was back in March, since when we have had the Super Series, the Asian Championship, the European Trophy and sundry friendly matches, but (particularly as these tests actually involved only a small number of teams) the result sees very little change.

We have also been awaiting the appearence of an official World Rugby women's ranking, which was promised for 2015. However this was a target that always seemed ambitious, with no internationally agreed list of test matches to base it upon. However we hear that significant progress is being made - both in terms of test match recognition and table calculation - so with a bit of luck we will finally see an official ranking in 2016.

Such a ranking will inevitably be different to ours (at least in detail), not just because the calculation method will be different, but because we understand that World Rugby will only include test matches played by their members, or at least those who were members at the time that the tests were played. Our rankings have never been concerned with such administrative details!

The major change since March sees New Zealand taking over at the top, deservedly and understandably after England's difficult test match year and the Fern's success in the Super Series. The United States also sneek above Ireland mainly because of the Super Series (Ireland's Six Nations gains being included last time).

Japan move up three places thanks to their Asian success, overtaking Belgium who do not gan any places but have all but eliminated the previous historic large points gap with Russia - they will almost certainly overtake them in 2016. Switzerland's success in the European Trophy also moves them up a place though further progress to the Top 20 will be slow as the gaps are now large.

However the biggest rise overall comes for the Czech Republic, whose continued test match activity is at last bearing fruit as all of the other teams around them played no tests in 2015. They leap up 11 places and enter the top 30 for the first time.

Sevens and Combined ranking

Serge also produces a ranking for sevens teams. This is based on individual match results, rather than the overall outcome of tournaments, which results in some minor unexpected diffrerences compared with matters such as World Series positions - which is partly why Canada (very narrowly) top the table ahead of Australia and the currently inconsistent New Zealand. Also, for the time being, results of "Great Britain" teams are being counted with "England".

In the sevens ranking we have highlighted the 11 teams who have currently qualfiied for the Olympics, which (amongst other things) shows quite what a surprise Colombia's qualification was, and also how unlucky South Africa were to have their Olympic place rejected.

The combined ranking gives equal weight to both Serge's test and sevens scores (rather than simply adding them together), with teams who play both formats obvioulsy gaining an advantage over teams who only play one (in most cases sevens).

Test match ranking				Sevens ranking			Combined ranking
1	New Zealand	5256	(+1)	1	Canada	9078	1	New Zealand	9961
2	England	5182	(-1)	2	Australia	9017	2	England	9859
3	France	5044		3	New Zealand	9008	3	Canada	9732
4	Canada	4974		4	England	8949	4	France	9640
5	United States	4932	(+1)	5	France	8791	5	United States	9427
6	Ireland	4928	(-1)	6	Russia	8778	6	Australia	9066
7	Wales	4591		7	Spain	8660	7	Spain	8858
8	Italy	4380		8	United States	8597	8	Ireland	8804
9	Australia	4309		9	Fiji	8531	9	South Africa	8168
10	Spain	4298		10	Brazil	7610	10	Wales	7627
11	South Africa	4245		11	South Africa	7498	11	Italy	6948
12	Scotland	4196		12	Ireland	7473	12	Netherlands	6805
	Nomads	3590		13	Netherlands	7326	13	Russia	6755
13	Samoa	3507		14	China	7266	14	Kazakhstan	6315
14	Kazakhstan	3361		15	Japan	7174	15	Scotland	6223
15	Netherlands	2912		16	Hong Kong	6270	16	Japan	5970
16	Sweden	2884		17	Wales	5919	17	Samoa	5728
17	Japan	2122	(+3)	18	Kazakhstan	5661	18	Fiji	5355
18	Russia	2019	(-1)	19	Portugal	5649	19	Hong Kong	5186
19	Belgium	2015	(-1)	20	Germany	5116	20	Sweden	4916
20	Germany	1948	(-1)	21	Italy	5050	21	China	4889
21	Hong Kong	1821		22	Argentina	4937	22	Germany	4671
22	Switzerland	1541	(+1)	23	Tunisia	4671	23	Brazil	4564
23	Finland	1488	(-1)	24	Ukraine	4559	24	Belgium	4149
24	Singapore	1318		25	Samoa	4342		Nomads	3415
25	Kenya	1217		26	PNG	4211	25	Kenya	3394
26	Uganda	1132		27	Thailand	4067	26	Singapore	3373
27	China	932		28	Kenya	4061	27	Portugal	3228
28	Norway	896		29	Belgium	4052	28	Finland	2938
29	Czech Rep.	810	(+11)	30	Scotland	4051	29	Thailand	2865
30	Romania	793	(-1)	31	Sweden	3945	30	Switzerland	2854
31	Trinidad & Tob.	788	(-1)	32	Sri Lanka	3867	31	Argentina	2719
32	Fiji	690	(-1)	33	Singapore	3847	32	Tunisia	2573
33	Cayman Islands	669	(-1)	34	Mexico	3744	33	Ukraine	2511
34	Thailand	657	(-1)	35	Colombia	3654	34	Romania	2436
35	Uzbekistan	634	(-1)	36	Guam	3212	35	PNG	2382
36	Denmark	619	(-1)	37	Romania	3054	36	Uganda	2240
	Caribbean Sel.	606		38	Uzbekistan	2954	37	Uzbekistan	2230
37	Jamaica	582	(-1)	39	Finland	2765	38	Colombia	2198
38	Tonga	519	(-1)	40	Denmark	2639	39	Norway	2149
39	Philippines	504	(-1)	41	Switzerland	2521	40	Sri Lanka	2130
40	Luxembourg	481	(-1)	42	Philippines	2496	41	Czech Rep.	2085
41	Malaysia	468		43	Cook Islands	2462	42	Mexico	2062
42	Laos	448		44	Tonga	2407	43	Denmark	2042
43	Guyana	431		45	Czech Rep.	2387	44	Trinidad & Tob.	1972
44	Brazil	392		46	Zimbabwe	2376	45	Philippines	1854
45	Serbia	348		47	Chile	2376	46	Tonga	1819
46	Rwanda	341		48	Georgia	2364	47	Guam	1769
47	Barbados	292		49	Norway	2355	48	Jamaica	1739
48	Bosnia & Herz.	255		50	Poland	2336	49	Cayman Islands	1601
49	Austria	241		51	Hungary	2313	50	Malaysia	1512
50	Guernsey	201		52	Uruguay	2232	51	Zimbabwe	1362
51	Colombia	195	(-1)	53	Paraguay	2229	52	Cook Islands	1356
52	Namibia	185	(-1)	54	Trinidad & Tob.	2220	53	Hungary	1350
53	Zambia	179	(-1)	55	Moldova	2205	54	Chile	1309
54	Mayotte	177	(-1)	56	Jamaica	2153	55	Georgia	1302
55	Bahamas	174	(-1)	57	Venezuela	2141	56	Laos	1301
56	Croatia	164	(-1)	58	Uganda	2112	57	Poland	1287
57	St Vincent	130	(-1)	59	Croatia	2042	58	Croatia	1281
58	Portugal	123	(-1)	60	Chinese Taipei	2027	59	Venezuela	1278
59	Kyrgyzstan	122	(-1)	61	UAE	1990	60	Uruguay	1229
60	Burundi	121	(-1)	62	South Korea	1968	61	Paraguay	1228
61	Venezuela	104	(-1)	63	Malaysia	1937	62	Moldova	1214
62	Réunion	89	(-1)	64	Israel	1936	63	Austria	1209
63	Cambodia	85	(-1)	65	Austria	1778	64	Luxembourg	1118
64	Botswana	85	(-1)	66	India	1775	65	Chinese Taipei	1116
65	Hungary	80	(-1)	67	Peru	1763	66	UAE	1096
66	Jersey	74		68	Cayman Islands	1752	67	South Korea	1084
67	PNG	66	(-2)	69	Malta	1670	68	Israel	1066
68	Zimbabwe	56	(-2)	70	Latvia	1664	69	Guyana	1023
				71	Iran	1661	70	Serbia	984
				72	Bulgaria	1620	71	India	978
				73	Senegal	1612	72	Peru	971
				74	Lithuania	1606	73	Malta	920
				75	Laos	1589	74	Latvia	917
				76	New Caledon.	1568	75	Iran	915
				77	Slovenia	1502	76	Bulgaria	892
				78	Madagascar	1382	77	Zambia	890
				79	Zambia	1307	78	Senegal	888
				80	Luxembourg	1199	79	Lithuania	885
				81	Serbia	1185	80	Barbados	877
				82	Andorra	1180	81	New Caledon.	864
				83	Costa Rica	1144	82	Slovenia	827
				84	Botswana	1141	83	Madagascar	761
				85	Guyana	1113	84	Bahamas	730
				86	Barbados	1088	85	Bosnia & Herz.	722
				87	Slovakia	1056	86	Botswana	709
				88	Turkey	1046	87	Namibia	692
				89	Bahamas	1024	88	Andorra	650
				90	Saint Lucia	964	89	Costa Rica	630
				91	Namibia	937	90	Slovakia	582
				92	Bosnia & Herz.	871		Caribbean Sel.	576
				93	Bermuda	830	91	Turkey	576
				94	Fr. Polenisiea	768	92	Saint Lucia	531
				95	Morocco	689	93	Rwanda	521
				96	El Salvador	688	94	Bermuda	457
				97	Egypt	631	95	Fr. Polenisiea	423
				98	Guatemala	588	96	Morocco	379
				99	Hawaii	587	97	El Salvador	379
				100	Panama	568	98	Mayotte	365
				101	Turks & C.	558	99	Egypt	348
				102	Guadeloupe	544	100	St Vincent	345
				103	Curaçao	479	101	Guatemala	324
				104	Solomon Islands	474	102	Hawaii	323
				105	Nicaragua	453	103	Panama	313
				106	Reunion	444	104	Turks & C.	307
				107	Burkina Faso	437	105	Guadeloupe	300
				108	St Vincent	402	106	Cambodia	275
				109	Montenegro	364	107	Curaçao	264
				110	Mayotte	357	108	Solomon Islands	261
				111	Rwanda	357	109	Nicaragua	250
				112	Cambodia	353	110	Reunion	245
				113	French Guyana	330	111	Burkina Faso	241
				114	Indonesia	310	112	Kyrgyzstan	232
				115	Greece	288	113	Montenegro	200
				116	Ivory Coast	257	114	Guernsey	191
				117	Niue	233	115	Burundi	190
				118	Nigeria	233	116	French Guyana	182
				119	Ghana	227	117	Indonesia	171
				120	Cameroon	216	118	Greece	159
				121	Kyrgyzstan	210	119	Ivory Coast	142
				122	Cuba	195	120	Niue	128
				123	Togo	158	121	Nigeria	128
				124	Martinique	149	122	Ghana	125
				125	Ecuador	145	123	Cameroon	119
				126	Brit. Virgin Isl.	143	124	Cuba	107
				127	Burundi	136	125	Togo	87
				128	Mauritius	112	126	Réunion	85
				129	St Martin	106	127	Martinique	82
				130	St Kitts & Nevis	42	128	Ecuador	80
				131	Mali	36	129	Brit. Virgin Isl.	79
				132	Niger	35	130	Jersey	70
				133	Qatar	24	131	Mauritius	62
				134	San Marino	23	132	St Martin	58
				135	Guinea	22	133	St Kitts & Nevis	23
				136	Mauritania	22	134	Mali	20
				137	Kuwait	22	135	Niger	19
				138	RD Congo	20	136	Qatar	13
				139	Vanuatu	18	137	San Marino	13
				140	Wallis & Futuna	18	138	Guinea	12
							139	Mauritania	12
							140	Kuwait	12
							141	RD Congo	11
							142	Vanuatu	10
							143	Wallis & Futuna	10

World Test and Sevens Rankings

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