Week 4 of the Americas Rugby Championship has impacted the Americas Rankings. Two out of the three matches were for rankings and both of those matches saw changes to the competitors’ rankings.
Uruguay’s home victory over Canada sees the North Americans dropping 0.88 rankings points to Uruguay. The updated rankings mean that Canada remains in third place in the Americas but by a slim margin of 0.03 points.
In terms of the World Rankings Uruguay will be confirmed on Monday, by World Rugby, as rising from 23rd to 21st in the world. This will take Uruguay back above both Spain and Germany. Canada remain 20th in the world, ranked below both Namibia and Russia. Canada have won all prior matches against both countries.
Chile’s home defeat sees a 0.03 points exchange with the USA. The slight gain narrowly decreases the gap between first and second. For Chile the loss does not change the position of 5th in the Americas or 30th in the world. But with Uruguay winning it notably increases the gap from 4th to 5th in the Americas.
The Argentina XV’s hammering of Brazil sees no changes to the rankings. The Argentina XV is the official ‘A’ team of Argentina. As such no matches involve rankings exchanges. Only matches in which is is officially Los Pumas carry rankings.
Possible changes could happen to the Americas Rankings next weekend. In what is the final round of 2017 both Brazil and Uruguay have home advantage. Brazil host Canada while Uruguay take-on Chile.
While rankings will not be up-for-grabs, the Argentina XV vs USA fixture will determine the who wins the tournament. It will also see international rugby returning to Patagonia for the first time since 2006. Comodoro Rivadavia will host an international match for the first time in history.