IRL world rankings 2025: England stay 3rd but Samoa big winners in new-look top 10

The majority of international rugby league for 2025 is over, with all the top nations having concluded their programmes at representative level for 2025.

And that means the publication of the official International Rugby League world rankings – with Samoa the big winners after leapfrogging Tonga into fourth position.

Australia remain at the top with England staying third despite a heavy defeat in the Ashes to the Kangaroos.

The Ashes and the Pacific Championships have shaped the system somewhat, as have the remainder of the men’s World Cup qualifiers. Here’s how things look in the men’s game – but first, a reminder as to how the system actually works..

How the rankings work

• The result of the match i.e. win, lose or draw
• The margin of victory (or defeat) – the larger the winning margin the greater the value to the rankings
• The relative strength of opposition faced – if you play a higher ranked team that is of greater value than playing a lower ranked team
• The date of the match – more recent matches are weighted more heavily – a result in the most recent 2 years is worth double a result 3 years ago and 4 times a result that is 4 years old
• The importance of the match – World Cup matches are ranked top followed in order by World Cup Qualifiers, Regional Championships and one-off international matches

Movers and shakers

Unsurprisingly, Australia remain top of the rankings – and with a 100% score after sweeping England 3-0 in the Ashes. Their position at the top was never in doubt.

And in truth, nor was New Zealand’s. Having won the Pacific Championships, they will enter the World Cup in 12 months as the second-ranked seed. What has changed, however, is the gap between the Kiwis and the side ranked third increasingly significantly following the autumn results.

But the side in third, despite the disappointment of the Ashes, is still England. There has been a lot of talk of how other nations are now potentially ahead of the English but on the rankings, they aren’t going anywhere.

Their buffer to Samoa and Tonga was too big, and their historical results against those two nations in the last two years are still factored into the equation.

But it’s next where the big change occurs. Samoa made some huge strides in the Pacific Championships and given how the gap between themselves and Tonga wasn’t huge at all last year, the fact they defeated Tonga in the tournament – coupled with the margin of the 34-6 win – means Samoa jump to fourth in the standings.

Tonga drop to fifth, but no lower; despite Papua New Guinea winning the Pacific Bowl, Tonga’s historical results are enough to see them stay in the top five. Make no mistake though, the Kumuls have closed the gap on the world’s top five significantly going into the World Cup.

France’s position in eighth holds true after qualifying for the World Cup, something which will also benefit the Cook Islands, too. Ranked tenth a year ago, they will surely rise one spot above Serbia, who miss out on the tournament altogether.

The other home nations have experienced contrasting fortunes on the list. Scotland are now as low as 28th in the world, having dropped six places from 22nd a year ago.

Ireland climb four places from 18th to 14th after playing end-of-season internationals this year, while Wales drop a place to 13th.

Perhaps the best story is Ukraine though, who are now the 12th best nation in the world, up three places on last year.

Official men’s world rankings 2025 (top 20)

1. Australia (-)
2. New Zealand (-)
3. England (-)
4. Samoa (+1)
5. Tonga (-1)
6. Papua New Guinea (-)
7. Fiji (-)
8. France (-)
9. Cook Islands (+1)
10. Serbia (+1)
11. Netherlands (-2)
12. Ukraine (+3)
13. Wales (-1)
14. Ireland (+4)
15. Greece (-1)
16. Malta (-3)
17. Italy (-)
18. Jamaica (+2)
19. USA (-)
20. Poland (+5)

The full rankings for all three disciplines – men’s, women’s and wheelchair – can be viewed here.