NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Rugby / Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup: Power rankings

Dylan Cleaver
By Dylan Cleaver
Sports Editor at Large·NZ Herald·
24 Aug, 2015 01:36 AM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The All Blacks are the best team in the world right now, but which sides are right behind them?

The All Blacks are the best team in the world right now, but which sides are right behind them?

With less than four weeks until the start of the Rugby World Cup, Dylan Cleaver ranks where the nations stand heading into the big event.

They have accumulated a win-loss record this year that is tempting to write off as flattering, but that assessment is coloured by the scale of their meltdown in Sydney. Apart from a rampant 10-minute spell against a 14-man Australia a week later in Auckland, this version of the All Blacks doesn't seem as capable as tearing good teams apart as previous ones, but they are built tough and will go to England as the team to beat.

The Wallabies lost three out of four tests on their 2014 Northern Hemisphere tour, the first under Michael Cheika, and looked broken beyond repair. Such has been their improvement in 2015 - their traditional Eden park shocker aside - they now have to be favourite to progress as top team out of the murderous Pool A. There are question marks around halfback-first five, but in Israel Folau have the best back at the tournament.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

New Zealander Joe Schmidt has turned Ireland into a green machine and their 2015 form has been as impressive as any team in the world. The three things holding them back from a higher ranking are: they have never beaten NZ (though should have in 2013); they needed a late, late try to beat Scotland at the weekend; and they always flatter to deceive at World Cups. They should emerge first in a tough-ish Pool D.

England will go into this tournament with massive expectation and massive advantage. Twickenham has become a fortress for them and as much as we like to mock it, 80,000 people singing a negro spiritual rarely fails to lift the Red Rose. That said, they have twice been unimpressive against France this month and can appear to be caught between two worlds - the new, more expansive England and the old, highly effective blunt instrument England.

It might be a stretch having France, with a negative 2015 win-loss record, this high, but a side of reserves held England close at Twickenham before beating up the same team at home. But let's face it, there's little point trying to predict which France will turn up - coach Philippe Saint-Andre likely has no idea himself. We're picking them to advance from Pool D in second to face the All Blacks... in Cardiff.

Another team with a negative split in 2015, the scale of South Africa's problems appear deep. They beat an inverted-commas World XV, before laying an egg in the Rugby Championship, which included a horrific home loss to Argentina. Like England, they appear caught between styles, though you suspect their traditional forward-based game will play out well at a World Cup. Will win Pool B, then things get tricky.

You could make a strong argument that Warren Gatland's men are the fifth-best team going into the World Cup... which is kind of meaningless when they are shaping as the third-best team in Pool A. Wales find themselves in this unjustly lowly position because as present Australia and home side England look better equipped to escape from the pool of Death, particularly with those crunch matches both played at Twickers, not Cardiff.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Their 2015 record is padded by South American Championship victories again Paraguay and Uruguay, but of more significance was their groundbreaking Rugby Championship victory over South Africa. Despite admission to Sanzar, Argentina still feel like the ultimate outsiders. They should qualify second out of Pool C, but will not find Tonga or Georgia pushovers. It is hard to see them emulate 2007 when they made the semis.

They own a dreadful record, are an ordinary team, and cannot even really claim to be a country following last year's 'No' vote to secession. However, Scotland won the lottery when it came to the RWC 2015 draw, vying with Samoa, Japan and the fast-improving USA for a presumptive second place in Pool B behind South Africa. This truly is the Pool of Life and nobody is poised to take advantage more than Vern Cotter's team.

It is not just the romance of their gutsy 16-25 loss to the All Blacks that has them this high, but the paucity of quality opposition in Pool B (see above). Samoa won't necessarily have an easy game in their pool, but South Africa would be the only side where you'd say they start overwhelming second favourites - and even that is debatable. Getting touched up by Fiji in Vancouver this month was not a good omen.

The tiny Kingdom have proved tough to topple this year, racking up wins against USA, Canada and Samoa. Following their heroics at the last RWC, where they beat France, they'll fancy themselves a chance of tickling up Argentina and qualifying out of a moderate Pool C. Tonga haven't had much luck avoiding the All Blacks at the big dance, drawing them in pool play for the fourth time in the seven tourneys they have attended.

Discover more

All Blacks

'It's definitely going to be tough'

22 Aug 05:00 PM
New Zealand

Meet the AB's loyal super fans

22 Aug 05:00 PM
Rugby

Wallabies lock working overtime before World Cup

23 Aug 04:40 AM
Sport

Is this the end of sport on TV?

23 Aug 11:31 PM

Like Scotland, the Six Nations strugglers approach the World Cup with little to recommend them except a weak pool. An upset against either France or Ireland and the Italians will advance to the quarter-finals, where they would in all likelihood face the All Blacks. Having had admission to the Six nations since the turn of the century, World Rugby would dearly have loved to have seen a more competitive Italy by now.

Unbeaten in tests this year, Fiji can claim the title of unluckiest team at the World Cup without the tyres of their planes even touching the Heathrow tarmac. The chances of the 2007 quarter-finalists progressing from a pool that contains Australia, England and Wales is minimal but their strength should ensure none of aforementioned teams can use them as an opportunity to rest key players. It would be nice to see them win a couple of games.

Yes, their record is excellent but we're unconvinced by how instructive a 20-15 victory over Portugal in Tbilisi is. Probably a more accurate summation of how former Counties man Milton Haig's team is shaping up was offered by twin home losses to Emerging Italy and Emerging Ireland in June. Georgia have proved muscularly effective, without the ability to turn forward parity into points. They remain an outside chance at best of emerging from Pool C.

Exposure to the All Blacks last year and Australia this weekend should see the USA Eagles become the fastest-improving test team in world rugby. Certainly, there is an almost evangelical desire to at World Rugby to see the USA emerge as a sustainable rugby market. Twin victories over Canada and a win against Japan see the Eagles ranked here as the second-best of the out-and-out minnows, just behind the Lelos of Georgia.

THE REST (ranking)
CANADA (18), ROMANIA (17), JAPAN (15), URUGUAY (19), NAMIBIA (20)

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

‘Major failures’: French oversight costs Rugby World Cup $57m

08 Apr 06:15 PM
Rugby World Cup

Gatland waived six-figure settlement to leave Wales

12 Feb 06:09 PM
New Zealand

‘Nanny state’: Council proposes fizzy drink ban at sports stadium

01 Feb 04:00 PM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rugby World Cup

‘Major failures’: French oversight costs Rugby World Cup $57m

‘Major failures’: French oversight costs Rugby World Cup $57m

08 Apr 06:15 PM

The French government and FFR were blamed for failures of hosting the 2023 event.

Gatland waived six-figure settlement to leave Wales

Gatland waived six-figure settlement to leave Wales

12 Feb 06:09 PM
‘Nanny state’: Council proposes fizzy drink ban at sports stadium

‘Nanny state’: Council proposes fizzy drink ban at sports stadium

01 Feb 04:00 PM
Premium
Why Lions stars refused orders from Gatland’s coaching box on NZ tour

Why Lions stars refused orders from Gatland’s coaching box on NZ tour

11 Jan 04:00 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP