Ireland came into the Rugby World Cup in eighth position in the IRB World Rankings. Following an exciting, action-packed few weeks in New Zealand, Declan Kidney’s men are now ranked sixth in the world as thoughts turn to the 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship.
New Zealand remain on top of the IRB World Rankings after beating France 8-7 in the Rugby World Cup final to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for the first time in 24 years, although their cushion at the top has been reduced slightly.
The All Blacks have occupied top spot for the last 23 months and for nearly 80% of the time since the rankings were introduced in October 2003, but would have surrendered that position to France had they suffered more World Cup heartbreak against les Bleus.
New Zealand only increased their rating slightly to 91.43, but that will matter little as they continued the celebrations with a street parade in Auckland on Monday.
France’s third, and by far the closest, defeat in a Rugby World Cup final means they remain third in the rankings behind bronze medal winners Australia.
The French are just over three-tenths above South Africa, a team they climbed above last week to break the southern Hemisphere’s dominance of the top three.
Australia’s 21-18 victory over Wales in the bronze final on Friday improved their rating by nearly a point and as a result has reduced their deficit to New Zealand to 4.01 points.
The defeat was costly for Wales as the points exchange meant they dropped below Ireland and Argentina to eighth.
IRB WORLD RANKINGS (as of Monday, October 24):
Last week’s positions in brackets –
1(1) NEW ZEALAND 91.43 rating points
2(2) AUSTRALIA 87.42
3(3) FRANCE 84.70
4(4) SOUTH AFRICA 84.34
5(5) ENGLAND 81.58
6(7) IRELAND 80.65
7(8) ARGENTINA 80.28
8(6) WALES 80.18
9(9) TONGA 76.63
10(10) SCOTLAND 76.20
11(11) SAMOA 75.81
12(12) ITALY 73.99
13(13) CANADA 72.92
14(14) GEORGIA 71.09
15(15) JAPAN 70.45
16(16) FIJI 68.78
17(17) USA 65.63
18(18) ROMANIA 63.98
19(19) NAMIBIA 61.24
20(20) PORTUGAL 60.67
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