International competition resumed on Saturday. In the first test match since the June Internationals, Honduras played host to Panama to open the 2018 Centroamericano. Following the result of the match the Americas Rankings have been updated for August 12 2018.
For Honduras the match was the first since Americas Rankings began. With the country not involved in the 2017 South American C Championship they held a 30.00 ranking going into Saturday’s match. Panama fell to a defeat against Nicaragua a year ago which, combined with other results, saw Los Diablos Rojos having a ranking of 27.32.
Panama’s 27-39 win over Honduras on Saturday was a come-from-behind victory. Honduras had been eight points ahead at half time but the visitors cut the deficit and went ahead, winning by twelve points.
The updated Americas Rankings see Panama climbing to a ranking of 28.89 and Honduras falling to 28.43 points. This means Panama rise to now be 35th in the Americas while Honduras fall to 38th.
The Americas Rankings will be updated again next Sunday. There are to be two test matches with El Salvador hosting Honduras and Argentina facing South Africa in the Rugby Championship.
El Salvador and Honduras are officially the lowest ranked in the Americas Rankings. Honduras’ introduction to the Americas Rankings being a loss is the reason for this with a win over El Salvador set to see the republic rising.
Honduras’ first match counting towards the Americas Rankings means that Bolivia, Cuba, Haiti, Martinique, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Suriname are the remaining unions listed yet to play matches counting towards rankings.
Costa Rica continues to be ranked on 32.16 points. This is the case despite the country having gained World Rugby membership in November 2017. Upon gaining World Rugby membership unions enter the World Rankings and do so with a 30.00 ranking.
RANK | COUNTRY | POINTS | WRR | |
1 | Argentina | 75.55 | 10 | |
2 | USA | 71.66 | 15 | |
3 | Uruguay | 65.37 | 18 | |
4 | Canada | 59.93 | 22 | |
5 | Brazil | 56.81 | 26 | |
6 | Chile | 54.37 | 29 | |
7 | Paraguay | 48.89 | 40 | |
8 | Colombia | 47.68 | 43 | |
9 | Guyana | 46.56 | 48 | |
10 | Trinidad & Tobago | 45.51 | 52 | |
11 | Cayman Islands | 45.20 | 53 | |
12 | Mexico | 45.12 | 54 | |
13 | Venezuela | 41.87 | 62 | |
14 | Jamaica | 40.69 | 64 | |
15 | Bermuda | 37.39 | 76 | |
16 | St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 35.90 | 82 | |
17 | Peru | 35.70 | 81 | |
18 | Barbados | 34.55 | 85 | |
19 | Turks & Caicos Islands | 34.04 | – | |
20 | Guatemala | 34.03 | – | |
21 | Bahamas | 33.76 | 86 | |
22 | Costa Rica | 32.16 | 93 | |
23 | St. Lucia | 30.80 | – | |
24 | Guadeloupe | 30.71 | – | |
25 | Ecuador | 30.57 | – | |
26 | Belize | 30.00 | – | |
= | Bolivia | 30.00 | – | |
= | Cuba | 30.00 | – | |
= | Haiti | 30.00 | – | |
= | Martinique | 30.00 | – | |
= | St. Kitts and Nevis | 30.00 | – | |
= | Suriname | 30.00 | – | |
33 | British Virgin Islands | 29.48 | – | |
34 | Nicaragua | 29.16 | – | |
35 | Panama | 28.89 | – | |
36 | Curaçao | 28.67 | – | |
37 | Dominican Republic | 28.46 | – | |
38 | Honduras | 28.43 | – | |
39 | El Salvador | 26.63 | – |