Americas Rankings – March 4, 2017

Week 5 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 Chile sees no change to the ranking of either country. Uruguay went into the match already with an advantage exceeding 17 full rankings points.

In terms of the World Rankings Uruguay will be confirmed on Monday, by World Rugby, as rising from 21st to 20th in the world. This will take Uruguay above Canada. It follows a gain last week which saw Uruguay rise above both Spain and Germany. Canada have fallen below both Namibia and Russia despite having won all prior matches against both countries.

Canada’s shock defeat at the hands of Brazil sees changes to both countries. Brazil has risen in the Americas Rankings to now be just below Chile. Canada, meanwhile, have fallen from 3rd to 4th in the Americas behind Uruguay. The Canadians are also now ranked at an all-time low of 23rd in the world.

The failure to win in Uruguay and Brazil sees Canada punished in the rankings. It also sends shockwaves into the qualifying campaign for Rugby World Cup 2019. Canada will play the USA in home-and-away matches mid-year. The winner will qualify directly for Japan 2019. The loser will face the winner from South America, likely Uruguay. It is nervous times for Canada.

The final fixture of the competition had not impact on 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.

Argentina’s next World Rankings fixture will be at home against England. Los Pumas will face the no 2 team in the world in San Juan and Santa Fé. It will be followed by a match against Georgia in Jujuy. The Georgians are to also face both Canada and the USA. Canada also has a match against Romania while the USA will take on Ireland in New Jersey.

June 24 and July 1 are the dates set to be confirmed for the Canada vs USA matches. June will also see not only Uruguay playing test rugby but others too. Both Brazil and Mexico have home matches against the Cook Islands. Belgium and Portugal are to also play in Brazil.

Before then Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay are to contest the 2017 South American Cup. The competition will double as Rugby World Cup qualifiers. The winner will face either Canada or the USA for a place in Japan 2019.

Test rugby in the Caribbean will resume mid-year. The set to be confirmed 2017 Rugby Americas North Championship is to again bring together a host of countries. In 2016 there were nine competitors – Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago. Mexico won the tournament.

Last month’s St. Lucia vs St. Vincent and the Grenadines international was the first for the year. The Americas Rankings have been updated to include the outcome from that fixture. For St. Lucia it was the first match since Americas Rankings began.

 

RANK		COUNTRY	POINTS	WRR
1		Argentina	79.91	9
2		USA	66.79	17
3		Uruguay	61.24	20
4		Canada	59.63	23
5		Chile	53.91	29
6		Brazil	53.45	30
7		Paraguay	49.46	38
8		Colombia	47.97	42
9		Trinidad & Tobago	46.25	50
10		Mexico	45.62	53
11		Guyana	45.35	55
12		Cayman Islands	42.88	60
13		Venezuela	41.14	62
14		Bermuda	39.22	70
15		Jamaica	38.76	71
16		Barbados	36.94	77
17		Peru	36.82	78
18		St. Lucia	31.79	–
19		St. Vincent and the Grenadines	33.12	84
20		Bahamas	33.76	88
21		Turks & Caicos	31.34	–
22		Guatemala	31.26	–
23		Dominican Republic	31.05	–
24		Costa Rica	30.70	–
25		Ecuador	30.57	–
26		Panama	30.29	–
27		Belize	30.00	–
=		Bolivia	30.00	–
=		British Virgin Islands	30.00	–
=		Cuba	30.00	–
=		Guadeloupe	30.00	–
=		Haiti	30.00	–
=		Honduras	30.00	–
=		Martinique	30.00	–
=		Nicaragua	30.00	–
=		St. Kitts and Nevis	30.00	–
=		Suriname	30.00	–
38		Curaçao	27.61	–
39		El Salvador	27.05	–