World Rugby Women's Rankings preview: 27-29 September, 2024

World Rugby has published the ranking permutations for the opening round of WXV 2024 matches in Canada, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates this week. 

Permutation highlights:

• Defending WXV 1 champions England cannot improve their rating with victory over USA in the opening match due to the 21.93 points difference between the two teams.
• The same will be true of world champions New Zealand from their opener against Ireland who are 14.07 rating points below the Black Ferns.
• This means that even in victory, New Zealand will lose second place to Canada if the WXV 1 hosts beat France in Sunday’s second match at BC Place in Vancouver.
• If Canada and New Zealand’s matches both end in a draw then the tournament hosts would also climb to second – a position they occupied for eight weeks following their historic win over the Black Ferns in the World Rugby Pacific Four Series in May.
• France will remain fourth even with a heavy defeat given they go into the match with a 10.49 rating-point cushion over Scotland in fifth.
• A win for Les Bleues will lift them above Canada, but if Ireland also avoid defeat against New Zealand then France will climb to second for the first time since July 2016.
• If New Zealand lose to Ireland they could drop to a new low of fourth, depending on the outcome of Canada v France.
• Ireland could jump two places to fifth – a position they haven’t occupied since August 2017 – if they can beat New Zealand, depending on the margin and results for Scotland and Australia.
• England cannot slip from number one even if beaten by USA for the first time since the Women’s Rugby World Cup 1991 final, a result which could see the Women’s Eagles jump to fifth place.
• Australia can equal their highest position of fifth if they avenge last week’s loss to Wales with victory in WXV 2 in Cape Town and Scotland are beaten by Italy and USA and Ireland both lose to higher-ranked opponents.
• Such a victory could see Italy jump four places to sixth, one place above Scotland.
• Defeat by more than 15 points could see Scotland drop to ninth with Australia also potentially dropping four places to 10th depending on margin of defeat and other results.
• South Africa will become the higher ranked of the two teams if they beat Japan, equalling their all-time high of 11th which they last occupied in October 2022.
• Japan are unable to improve on 11th place even with victory by more than 15 points as they currently trail Italy above by 6.61 rating points.
• Spain cannot improve their rating with victory over WXV 3 debutants Madagascar given the 18.81 points difference between the two nations.
• Fiji will regain the 14th place they lost following last week’s defeat by the Netherlands if they beat Hong Kong China in their WXV 3 encounter.
• They can only go to a new high of 13th if they win and Spain are beaten by Madagascar – the lowest ranked team in WXV 2024 – by more than 15 points.
• This would see Spain drop to their lowest-ever ranking of 14th.
• Opening defeats for Hong Kong China, Samoa and Madagascar will see them remain in 17th, 18th and 25th respectively.
• The Netherlands can only improve on 16th place in their own right if they beat Samoa by more than 15 points in their first WXV match, which would be enough to lift them above Russia.
• If Hong Kong China can beat Fiji on their WVX 3 debut then they could equal their highest-ever ranking of 15th, depending what happens in the Netherlands v Samoa match.
• A win for Samoa will definitely lift them above their Dutch opponents and also Hong Kong China if they are also beaten by Fiji.
• Victory for Madagascar, the other WXV debutant in 2024, against Spain would see them rise one place to a new high of 24th.

Match officials: 

• Aurélie Groizeleau (France) takes charge of the WXV 1 2024 opener between USA and England, a fixture she has refereed once before – the Red Roses having run out 52-14 winners in a Women's Rugby World Cup 2021 warm-up match. England are yet to lose with the French official in the middle. 
• Maggie Cogger-Orr (New Zealand) returns to test action following the Olympic Games Paris 2024 with Canada v France her first assignment. She refereed this fixture in the inaugural WXV 1 competition last year with Canada edging a tight battle 29-20. 
• Sara Cox (England) will edge ahead of Aimee Barrett-Theron as the most-capped female referee in test history with this her 41st appointment in the middle. Cox oversaw New Zealand's last meeting with Ireland, a 38-8 victory in November 2016. 
• Maria Latos (Germany) will take charge of South Africa and Japan for the first time in the WXV 2 2024 opener in Cape Town. Latos is another official returning to 15s duty after the Olympic Games.
• Clara Munarini (Italy) will referee Australia v Wales for the first time, having already taken charge of both teams in 2024 – overseeing Wales' 20-18 loss to Scotland in the Guinness Women's Six Nations and Australia's 36-10 defeat by Ireland earlier this month. 
• Amelia Luciano (USA) takes charge of Italy for the first time as they take on Scotland in the final WXV 2 match of the opening round. Luciano has refereed Scotland once before, a 47-5 victory over South Africa in Cape Town in September 2019. 
• Mélissa Leboeuf (France) makes her WXV debut as referee for Spain v Madagascar, having refereed both teams before including the Lady Makis twice in 2024 during the Rugby Africa Women's Cup. She also oversaw Spain's 22-5 win over the Netherlands in the Rugby Europe Women's Championship 2024.  
  
• Tyler Miller (Australia) will take charge of Hong Kong China for the first time in their WXV 3 encounter with Fiji. She only made her test debut in April before taking charge of Fiji's 24-15 loss to Japan in June. 
• Natarsha Ganley (New Zealand) referees the Netherlands and Samoa for the first time in the last WXV 3 match of the opening weekend. She has previously been an assistant referee for a Samoan test, a 32-10 loss to Japan in WXV 2 2023.