With all of the fancied teams winning their Rugby World Cup 2021 quarter-finals, this weekend’s results from New Zealand had minimal impact on the rankings.
England, New Zealand and Canada did not pick up any additional points for their respective victories over Australia, Wales and USA and are still one, two and three in the rankings.
France, meanwhile, gained 1.12 points for their 39-3 victory over Italy but that was still not enough for them to improve on fourth place.
However, the difference between Les Bleues and Canada is now just 0.62 of a point.
The biggest movers of the weekend were Kenya who climbed three places to 27th due to their 36-17 win against Zambia on Saturday in Pool B of the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup.
It was the exact same scoreline as hosts Uganda enjoyed over Zambia earlier in the week, a victory that has lifted the Lady Cranes up two places to 30th.
With two losses in four days, Zambia have plummeted seven places to 36th.
The 12-team tournament is also the first phase of African qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2025, meaning Zambia’s dream of making it to England is over.
Only the winners of the four pools will advance to the next round of qualifiers and top spot in Pool B will be decided when Uganda and Kenya meet on 2 November.
