Springbok Women slip to 10th in world rankings after second defeat to Ireland

South Africa have fallen back to 10th in the World Rugby women’s rankings after suffering a 38-17 defeat to Ireland at Athlone Stadium, slipping behind Scotland and ending the WXV Global Series on a difficult note.

Béibhinn Parsons claimed a hat-trick, Aoife Dalton scored twice and Erin King also crossed the line as Ireland proved too clinical for the Springbok Women, who had entered the campaign with ambitions of breaking into the top 10 and briefly achieved that target despite a 40-27 loss to the same opponents earlier in the series.

Springbok Women assistant coach Franzel September did not shy away from the result. “That was disappointing of course, but that also gave us a reality check on what is needed to trade blows with the number five team in the world,” he said. “They were clinical when they entered our red zone and made every entry count.”

Across September and October, South Africa won their matches against Italy and Spain but were beaten twice by Ireland and once by Wales, leaving them outside the top 10 by the close of the window. Ireland, for their part, retained fifth place in the rankings.

Elsewhere in the women’s standings, England held on to top spot after a commanding 55-12 victory over the USA Women’s Eagles at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey. Claudia Moloney-MacDonald marked her return to the starting XV with four tries, while Meg Jones, Mia Venner, Bryony Field, Maddie Feaunati and Sadia Kabeya also scored, ensuring the Red Roses avoided any risk of dropping to third.

New Zealand’s Black Ferns retained second place with a 36-7 win over France, while Wales stayed 11th following a 29-5 victory over Japan in Kumagaya.

With the women’s international Test window now closed, the World Rugby women’s rankings will not be updated again until 2027.