Rugby World Cup quarter-finalists ranked: England usurped by Wales

Wales are on the way up after going four from four with victory against Georgia, while the strangehold of the top four teams on the competition looks firmer than ever. 

Here we rank all eight teams left in the Rugby World Cup and also offer retrospective rankings on all the teams to have exited after the pool stage.

Also take a look back at our tournament power rankings from round one, round two, round three and round four.

The Fijians, after that Portuguese loss, are incredibly lucky to not drop out of the top 10, being replaced by their Toulousain conquerors. The Pacific Islanders have plenty of credit in the bank from previously in the tournament, however. That being said, Sunday night was as dark as World Cup days have come for Fiji; not ideal with a quarter-final against England in waiting.

A victory – albeit not entirely convincing – against Japan saw Argentina through to the quarter-finals. On paper, without any tournament context, Los Pumas would ordinarily head to that Wales match in Marseille as favourites; the way this tournament has panned out, however, and the roles are reversed. That being said, Argentina have easily enough class to sting Gatland’s side.

It is tough to work out this England team. At times, in the Samoa win, it was clumsy and clunky and yet, just as against Japan and Argentina, Steve Borthwick’s side got over the line and now head into the quarter-finals unbeaten. Not many would have predicted that pre-tournament. A floundering Fiji await in the last eight and suddenly the proposition of England making the semi-finals looks realistic.

Slightly flattering, but – just like England – Wales progress to the quarter-finals unbeaten, upsetting the odds and proving many doubters wrong. Again, just like England, Gatland’s side can begin dreaming about a semi-final with Argentina to come. The win over Georgia was nervy and scrappy at times but in the end the Welsh victory was relatively smooth.

A side winning by 73 points drops down one place. Brutal. New Zealand remain one of the leading contenders for this tournament and a 73-point victory over Uruguay did nothing to change that. But in that first 20 minutes the All Blacks were sloppy and, given the standard of the opposition, France leapfrog the Kiwis into third. New Zealand’s quarter-final against Ireland should be a clash for the ages.

No one truly expected the Lyon calamity, of France losing to Italy and crashing out in the pool stages of their home World Cup, but, then again, no one truly expected Italy to be as poor as they were against New Zealand, either. There were marginal Azzurri improvements but France, riding on the back of a white-hot atmosphere, were excellent, blowing the Italians away. The perfect tune-up for what is, on paper, the match of the last eight: the hosts and favourites against the reigning world champions in Paris. Titanic.

South Africa were able to put their feet up this weekend, knowing their job was 95 per cent done. Qualification was not quite assured, but crushing the Springbok dream would have required something almost otherworldly from Scotland –which did not transpire. After a week’s rest, they will head to the Stade de France to face Les Bleus full of optimism, hoping to upset the host-nation party.

Pre-tournament, it was virtually impossible to separate the trio of France, South Africa and Ireland as favourites. With topping the pool of death, however, Andy Farrell’s side have put their noses – that’s all – in front. The victories against the Springboks and Scotland were seismic, both in terms of the results on the respective nights and in the reverberations around the rugby world. The All Blacks will present a mighty challenge but if Ireland can replicate their pool-stage form they will be history-makers; an Irish side progressing to the semi-finals for the first time.

A sorry tournament to Romania ended with another heavy defeat – this time at the hands of Tonga. In the past month, the table reads 32 points for, 287 against. And, crucially, nul points in the group standings.

With their tournament already concluded, only a mighty upset from the Romanians was going to trouble their position in the table. Thankfully, for Namibia, that did not occur.

Another side whose tournament was finished before the final weekend of pool matches. Win-less Chile showed promise and potential in Pool D but could do nothing to prevent a bottom-place finish.

For 20 minutes, Uruguay had New Zealand on the ropes. The following 60, however, were a disintegration, with South American lungs and legs burning after a long tournament. Los Teros return home with credit in the bank, however.

In a hellish pool, Tonga’s chances of progression were minimal. A 20-point margin of victory over Romania brought their pool stages to a close, with many expecting a more comprehensive defeat.

For 60 minutes, Georgia’s match against Wales was in the balance. In the end, however, Warren Gatland’s side had too much and emerged as comfortable victors. Dropping two places might seem brutal after this Georgian effort – spearheaded by the divine Davit Niniashvili – but that slide is simply collateral owing to events that took place elsewhere on Sunday in the same pool.

The most depressing and dispiriting week in the history of Italian rugby? Certainly, in the professional era, it is tough to recall a more desolate, desperate and disheartening set of events. After all that progress – and with palpable improvements in attack – Italy took two large steps back in the hammerings by New Zealand and France. Captain Michele Lamaro looked broken at the last.

With failing to progress to quarter-finals - and, again, owing to that famous victory elsewhere – Japan slide down two places despite bright periods against Argentina. In the end, though, the history books will remember only a third-place finish, and a retrograde step from the highs of their home tournament in 2019. At least, the Brave Blossoms will return home with a genuine try-of-the-tournament contender, thanks to Amato Fakatava’s marvellous solo effort.

A team that loses being elevated by four? That is, perhaps, generous but it felt remiss to not reward the Samoan effort against England in Lille. Realistically, the Pacific Islanders should have won that game – and certainly played the more attractive rugby – but they will be heading home having failed to upset the Pool D applecart after arriving with high promise.

Hands up if you had on your bingo card that Portugal would be the great success story before the tournament? That is the reality we find ourselves in, however, as Fiji – after losing to Uruguay in 2019 – once again found themselves on the receiving end of the tournament upset. The greatest day in Portuguese rugby history, with the likes of Raffaele Storti and Nicolas Martins emerging as stars.

For a brief moment, with Portugal leading Fiji, it seemed as if the impossible was going to happen, and that Eddie Jones was playing his get-out-of-jail-free card. Alas, that did not transpire and the Wallabies will exit the pool stages of the World Cup for the first time. Australia rising by one place is simply a consequence of results elsewhere.

The dream, no matter how optimistic, came crashing down in the most emphatic of fashions on Saturday night. A Scottish catastrophe consigned their quarter-final hopes to the bonfire. They are victims of a scandalous draw, of course, and are a side which is easily good enough for a quarter-final, but in their two decisive matches they were found wanting.