women
international women
Both had big wins over the weekend USA Women’s Eagles and Wales climb the world rugby rankings.
Jack Hanratty’s USA moved up two places in the rankings thanks to a 40-36 win against Ireland.
A result against a higher-ranked opponent lifted the Eagles above Scotland and Italy to sixth, one place behind Sunday’s WXV Global Series opponents, Ireland.
At Tallaght Stadium, the USA overcame a 19-point deficit to stun Scott Bemand’s side in Dublin with a second-half assist from Catherine Treder, as well as tries from Hali Taufou and Freda Tafuna.
Combined with Bella Vogel’s unerring accuracy from the spot kick, they beat their hosts for the first time since 2018 and now head into this weekend’s clash with Wales in Cardiff as the world’s sixth-ranked team.
Italy, who won Japan 55-21 at Pordenone on Saturday, they dropped one place to seventh and Scotland dropped to eighth.
Wales’ win on Friday night saw Sean Lynn’s side climb two places to 12th.
It was only two weeks ago that the team fell to their lowest position ever, 13th in the rankings, after Fiji’s 15-12 win against Japan saw the Pacific Islanders move up to 12th.
To start their WXV Global Series campaign on a high note, Wales beat No. 10 South Africa 50-19 under the lights on Friday night at Cardiff Arms Park.
The win saw Lynn’s side claim their first Test victory in 14 months and only the head coach’s second since he took over in 2025. Sisilia Tuipulotu scored two tries in the win, while Courtney Keight, Seren Lockwood, Maisie Davies, Kelsey Jones, Lisa Neumann and Alex Callender crossed the whitewash.
Beating a higher ranked opponent means Wales are through Fiji and Japan to 12th place. This Saturday, in their second game of the WXV Global Series, Wales will host the USA in Cardiff. Considering how both teams played this past weekend, the game immediately became intriguing.
The USA and Wales are the only teams that have moved up in the rankings. In second place in the WXV Global Series, England tied with Canada, New Zealand beat Scotland 66-14 and France completed the comeback win against Australia.
At the WXV Global Series Challenger, Spain beat Samoa 61-21, won by Fiji Hong Kong China 54-26 i The Netherlands squeezed past Brazil 17-15.
