Serbia were the biggest winners in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings powered by Capgemini after securing the Rugby Europe Conference 2 South title with their third straight bonus-point victory.

Having already enjoyed wins over Montenegro and Turkey, Serbia rounded off a perfect campaign with a record 40-12 victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica.

Bosnia and Herzegovina had gone into the match with a 2-1 lead in the head-to-head record between the nations and still harbouring hopes of taking the title.

However, Serbia established a commanding 29-0 half-time lead and there was no way back for the home side.

Serbia have gained nine places in the rankings as a result of the win and are now up to 71st with Bosnia and Herzegovina dropping five to 93rd.

It was one of four matches in the Rugby Europe Conference system but the only one that led to significant changes.

Like Serbia, Czechia also finished their campaign with a 100 per cent record after defeating Latvia 43-7 in Riga.

However, with only half a point riding on the outcome, Czechia were not able to improve on 35th position in the rankings.

Bulgaria primed to take title 

While Czechia have long since wrapped up the Conference 1 North title, it is all still to play for in the South.

Bulgaria put themselves in a strong position to win the title as their 39-19 victory over Slovenia leaves them just one point behind leaders Israel in the standings with a game against bottom-of-the-table Cyprus left to play.

While Bulgaria’s position in the rankings remains unchanged in 59th, Slovenia have fallen one place to 80th as a direct result of Serbia’s rise.

In Conference 2 North, Andorra defeated Norway 26-6 in a match interrupted by a severe hailstorm.

With a quarter of a point gained, Andorra move up to 88th while Norway stay in 100th.

Qatar’s 32-7 win over India in Division 2 of the Asia Rugby Championship did not affect the rankings as Qatar are not full members of World Rugby.

Photo credit: Ismar Sačak-Fluffy