USA Women's Eagles climb back to eighth in World Rugby rankings after defeating Springboks in Pretoria

The USA Women’s Eagles reclaimed eighth place in the World Rugby rankings with a 26-19 win over the Springbok Women in Pretoria, bouncing back from a 34-21 defeat in Johannesburg seven days earlier that had dropped them to ninth.

That first-Test loss had briefly allowed Pacific Four Series rivals the Wallaroos to leapfrog the Eagles in the standings, but the Pretoria result restores the rankings to exactly where they stood a fortnight ago.

Head coach Jack Hanratty made seven changes to his starting XV for the second Test and was quickly rewarded. Braces from Hope Rogers and Telesi Uhatafe gave the North Americans a decisive cushion over their hosts and underlined the squad depth Hanratty has been building.

The Eagles’ next assignment is a WXV Global Series opener against Ireland on Sunday 20 September at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. The USA will also face Wales on the away leg of their WXV campaign before returning home in October, where Hanratty’s side will host Italy twice and then close out their schedule against Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 champions England at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey.

For South Africa, the focus now shifts to a two-match series against Fiji in August. Those fixtures give Swys de Bruin’s side a chance to push further into the world’s top ten ahead of a one-off Test against the Black Ferns at FNB Stadium in early September. Their WXV Global Series campaign then brings meetings with Wales, Italy, and two Tests against Ireland in Cape Town.