Australia climb to sixth in World Rugby rankings after 56-12 demolition of Scotland

Australia’s Wallaroos surged to sixth place in the World Rugby rankings after a commanding 56-12 victory over Scotland at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, with eight tries underlining their dominance in the WXV Global Series fixture.

Amelia Whitaker and Desiree Miller each crossed twice, while Brittany Merlo, Maya Stewart, Waiaria Ellis and Eva Karpani all added tries of their own. Scrum-half Sammie Wood was the architect throughout, contributing 12 points from the kicking tee and directing play with precision across the park. RugbyPass analyst Finn Morton noted that Wood “helped the Wallaroos make the most of space with quick thinking and accurate passing” and “slotted some challenging shots at the posts” in what was her 20th Test appearance.

Australia’s rise to sixth came at the expense of the USA Women’s Eagles, whose narrower winning margin against Italy was not enough to protect their ranking. Jack Hanratty’s side registered a 36-27 win over the Azzurre in Mansfield, Texas, in front of more than 3,600 supporters, with co-captain Georgie Perris-Redding scoring a hat-trick. “That was really tough,” Perris-Redding said after the final whistle. “I think we made it harder than we needed to, but I’m so proud of the girls. We’ve got a lot of hard work to do now.”

Elsewhere in the rankings, Canada have closed the gap on second-placed New Zealand, while fourth-placed France saw their advantage over Ireland remain largely unchanged despite suffering an 81-12 defeat to the Black Ferns.

In South America, Chile’s 39-10 victory over Mexico at CARR Parque Mahuida in Santiago — a non-WXV Global Series fixture — produced the most dramatic shift outside the top ten. The Manque XV climbed six places to 28th, while Mexico dropped to 35th. Tonga fell to 29th and Tunisia rose to 34th as a result of the updated standings.