When it comes to rugby (or any sport for that matter), fans are happy to endlessly debate which teams and players are the best.
While we certainly aren't going to claim that we're 100% right here, we have chosen the 10 most successful international rugby sides according to their best and worst rankings in the last 20 years.
We've also considered their performances in the Rugby World Cup, too. By no means definitive, here are 10 of the greatest international rugby sides.
Fiji
While most of the other ten rugby teams in our list have been ranked #1 at some point since 2003, Fiji has only ever ranked 7th in the world. However, during that time, their worst ranking has only ever been as low as 16th.
Fiji have recorded victories in matches against several Tier I nations during their history including Wales, France, England, and Australia. They are yet to beat New Zealand, South Africa, or Ireland.
Their best performances in the Rugby World Cup were quarterfinal appearances in 1987, 2007, and 2023.
Fiji are the most successful side at the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, which is competed between Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. The tournament has also featured invited teams like Australia A, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Junior All Blacks, New Zealand Maori, and the United States.
Fiji have won the championship 6 times in total and came runners-up in 5 championships.
Scotland
In terms of recent rankings, Scotland are rugby's 9th most successful team. Their highest ranking is 5th in the world and their lowest is 12th.
Scotland also participated in the first-ever international rugby match, defeating England in the process.
In addition to competing in the Rugby World Cup, a tournament where their best performance has been fourth place, Scotland also compete in the Six Nations.
The Six Nations Championship is competed between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales.
Initially, the tournament was competed between the “Home Nations” (England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland), expanded to the Five Nations with the addition of France, before becoming the Six Nations when Italy joined.
Scotland has won the Home Nations 9 times, the Five Nations 5 times, and is yet to win the Six Nations, the latter unwanted record being shared with Italy, who've also never won the tournament.
Argentina
Nicknamed the Pumas, Argentina are somewhat of an outlier in the world of rugby, being by far and away the strongest rugby nation in not just South America, but the entire Americas.
Their highest ranking or 3rd in the World between 2007 and 2008 only ever dropped to as low as 12th in 2014.
Their best finishes at the Rugby World Cup have been fourth place during the 2015 tournament held in England and the 2023 tournament held in France.
They also play in the annual Rugby Championship (formerly the Tri Nations Series before Argentina's inclusion) against Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
The tournament has been dominated by New Zealand with 20 wins to Australia and South Africa's 4 championships each. Argentina are yet to win.
Australia
Australia is another nation with a long history of playing high-level rugby and their national rugby union team, which is nicknamed the Wallabies, boasts some impressive records and has featured some of rugby's greatest players.
Their highest-ever ranking is 2nd, which they've held for most of the years since the rankings' inception in 2003. Australia's lowest ranking during this time was 10th, which they held in 2023 and 2024.
At the Rugby World Cup, the Wallabies have won twice, been runners-up twice, and finished third and fourth once each. They're the tournament's third most successful team, with only 4 countries having ever won it.
In the Rugby Championship, they're a good number of championships behind New Zealand, having won as many times as South Africa (4 times).
France
France is the first national rugby side in our list to have been ranked 1st since the rankings tables were introduced in 2003. During this time, they've been ranked 1st just in 2022. Their lowest ranking was 10th in 2018 and 2019.
However, as a rugby nation, they've won the Five Nations/Six Nations Championship 18 times most recently in 2022.
Though France has never won the Rugby World Cup, they were runners-up in 1987, 1999, and 2011.
Wales
Wales is another rugby nation that's been ranked as high as 1st and as low as 10th in the rankings tables and while they don't currently rank as high as France, they've won the Six Nations as many times as them, the Five Nations three more times than them, and they also won the Home Nations 15 times, second only to Scotland.
Wales have played at every Rugby World Cup and their best finishes came in the form of third place in the inaugural tournament in 1987. More recently, fourth places at the 2011 and 2019 tournaments have been their best performances.
Ireland
The Ireland national rugby union team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in rugby and competes in the Six Nations alongside England, Scotland, Wales, France, and Italy.
Since the rankings tables were introduced, they've never ranked lower than 9th (in 2013) and have ranked as high as 1st in 2019, 2022, and 2023.
Much like France and Wales, they've won the Six Nations a total of six times, most recently in 2024, where they were on track to win the whole thing with a mathematically perfect points tally, before losing to England by a single point in the dying seconds of the match.
Weirdly, Ireland's performances at the Rugby World Cup have never extended beyond the quarter-finals, where they've been eliminated in almost every tournament, except the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where they didn't make it out of the pools.
England
England have ranked no lower than 8th since the introduction of the rankings tables in 2003.
Their record across the Home Nations/Five Nations/Six Nations is unmatched by any other team, with Wales the only side to come close with 28 championships to England's 29.
However, during the Home Nations era, England's 5 outright wins are behind Wales' 7 and Scotland's 9. During the Five Nations, England were the most successful side with 17 victories.
They remain the Six Nations' most successful team with 7 championships. Every other team except Italy (with zero Six Nations victories), has 6 championships.
At the Rugby World Cup, England have won it once. The victory coming in Australia against the hosts in 2003 was much to the chagrin of the hosts and the Australian Prime Minister at the time.
South Africa
South Africa have been ranked 1st for a large amount of time since the ranking tables were introduced and they've never ranked lower than 7th.
The Springboks, as the team is known, are the most successful side ever at the Rugby World Cup, having won the tournament 4 times in total, including the most recent tournament in France. They've also capped some of the most-highly ranked rugby players. Their 2023 victory made them the first and only side to retain their Rugby World Cup championship, having also won it in Japan in 2019.
South Africa have never been runners-up to the World Cup as in each of the 4 finals they reached, they went on to win the match.
With 4 titles in The Rugby Championship, they've won as many times as Australia, but boast a much higher ranking than The Wallabies and 2 more Rugby World Cups.
New Zealand
Last but certainly not least, we have what many would consider the greatest and most successful rugby nation in the world.
New Zealand's rugby team, the All Blacks, have dominated the rankings tables since its inception, have never dropped lower than 5th in the world, and have been ranked 1st for most of its existence. Throughout their history, they've also boasted incredible players.
Beyond the rankings, they're also hugely successful at the Rugby World Cup and the Rugby Championship.
At the Rugby World Cup, they've won 3 times and have only been bested by South Africa with their four world cups. They most recently reached the final in 2023, losing to the Springboks.
However, their record against South Africa remains in New Zealand's favour, the All Blacks having won close to 60% of the meetings between the two nations. However, their biggest defeat did come against South Africa in London in August of 2023.
At the Rugby Championship, New Zealand have won 20 titles, 16 more than either Australia or South Africa.
The World Rugby Team of the Year has been awarded to New Zealand more than any other international side and in 2017, New Zealand's women's team were given the award, beating both England's and New Zealand's men's teams.
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My view (historically, not the current form):
1. New Zealand
2. South Africa
3. Australia
4. England
5. France
6. Wales
7. Ireland
8. Argentina
9. Scotland
10. Fiji
right now, Ireland and Argentina would be on the rise, whilst Australia and Wales would be on the descent …. Italy would be pushing from below, however they yet have to make a RWC QF