The 2026 Six Nations have been one of the best editions of the tournament in recent years.
France won the tournament with a dramatic last-second kick against England. Ireland won the Triple Crown, while England and Wales only won one game each. Let’s look at how the tournament impacted the World Rankings 18 months out from the Rugby World Cup.
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Rugby World Rankings before the Six Nations
| World Ranking position | Nation | Ranking points |
| 3 | England | 89.41 |
| 4 | Ireland | 87.97 |
| 5 | France | 87.24 |
| 9 | Scotland | 80.22 |
| 10 | Italy | 78.89 |
| 11 | Wales | 74.23 |
Rugby World Rankings after the Six Nations
| World Ranking position | Nation | Ranking points |
| 3 (+1) | Ireland | 89.07 |
| 4 (+1) | France | 87.46 |
| 6 (-3) | England | 83.91 |
| 7 (+2) | Scotland | 82.90 |
| 10 (-) | Italy | 79.64 |
| 11 (-) | Wales | 75.07 |
The Six Nations saw one major loser for the World Rankings and three winners. England were, of course, the major losers as they had their worst campaign of the Six Nations era, losing four matches for the first time and picking up their first-ever loss to Italy. The nuances of the Rugby World Rankings mean that the gap between Ireland and France has grown, despite France winning the Championship. Ireland took massive jumps in their ranking points thanks to their massive away win against England and their win against Scotland. France took their biggest jump with their win over Ireland in the opening round.
Rugby Europe Championship and the World Rankings
| Rank before the tournament | Nation | Rank after the tournament |
| 13 | Georgia | 13 |
| 15 | Spain | 17 (-2) |
| 20 | Portugal | 14 (+6) |
| 21 | Belgium | 21 |
| 22 | Romania | 22 |
| 26 | Netherlands | 27 |
| 28 | Switzerland | 28 |
| 35 | Germany | 33 (+2) |
Portugal provided a shock when they defeated Georgia in the Rugby Europe Championship final 19-17. Portugal won their group with three wins from three. This saw their World Ranking take a huge jump, having started the tournament in 20th place.
