WORLD RANKINGS: Ireland move closer to top spot
NEWS: While still ranked number two, all of Ireland will feel on top of the world after a superb 16-9 win over the All Blacks.
A heroic defensive display from the men in green kept New Zealand tryless for the first time since the second Lions test in 2017 and earned Ireland a first home win over the world champions, in addition to 1.05 points.
Ireland’s total now stands at 91.17 points – only 1.37 points behind the All Blacks, who celebrated an unbroken nine-year reign as the world’s highest ranked team last Friday.
Australia’s 26-7 win over Italy in Padova has seen the Wallabies move up to sixth place, above Scotland, who suffered a 20-26 home defeat to South Africa.
The Springboks remain in fifth place but are now just 0.42 of a point behind England.
In Lille, Teddy Thomas’ two tries helped France to a 28-13 win over Argentina with both sides remaining unmoved in the rankings, in eighth and ninth place respectively.
Wales did not get any reward from a rankings perspective for beating lower-ranked opponents Tonga and the same is true of England, who were in danger of losing to Japan until pulling away in the final quarter to win 35-15.
Meanwhile, an emphatic 31-5 victory over Romania in Bucharest has lifted the USA to their highest ever World Rugby Ranking of 13th, continuing a tremendous year for the Eagles which has seen them win all nine tests in 2018.
The reward for winning by such a big margin was 1.34 rating points and, with an overall total of 73.66 points, they are now above both Georgia and Italy, even though the Lelos also won.
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