Hong Kong China and Cameroon have each dropped down a place in the World Rugby Women’s Rankings powered by Capgemini following defeats in their respective regional competitions.
Hong Kong China were beaten 27-23 by Kazakhstan in the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship in Almaty last Tuesday, while Cameroon lost 52-3 to Kenya and 30-10 to Madagascar in the latest edition of the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup Division 1.
Hong Kong China’s defeat to Kazakhstan was costly on two counts in that it denied them the opportunity to compete in WXV later this year while also seeing them ousted from 16th place in the rankings by Fiji.
While Fiji maintained their rating of 58.33 points thanks to a 77-0 win over Papua New Guinea in the opening round of the Oceania Women’s Championship 2023 on Friday, Hong Kong China’s rating was cut by 0.91 of a point to 58.31, leaving them two hundredths of a point adrift of the Pacific Islanders.
Cameroon started the week in 29th place on 43.45 points but ended it one place and nearly two points worse off. Having had their rating cut to 41.54 points, Cameroon are now below Tonga in the rankings.
Tonga were also beaten, 69-5 by Samoa in the Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship, but as the defeat came at the hands of an opponent with a vastly superior rating, they did not lose any points.
Meanwhile, Japan’s 72-0 win over Kazakhstan in Almaty in Sunday’s final of the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship earned the Sakura 15s just under half a point and edged them closer to a place in the top 10.
The emphatic victory secured Japan a place in WXV 2 and the Asian title as well as boosting their rating to 68.40 points, leaving them 2.69 points behind Ireland in 10th.
Kenya, Kazakhstan and Madagascar all improved their ratings but not by enough to lift them any higher in the rankings. Kenya and Kazakhstan, however, did secure a place in WXV 3 as runners-up in their respective regional competitions.
Photo Credit: Galenkovskiy Evgeniy
