World Rankings: No.1 spot up for grabs in Dublin
SPOTLIGHT: There are plenty of ranking permutations for the internationals in the Northern Hemisphere this weekend.
The big match of the weekend is in Dublin with Ireland hosting the Springboks.
Other notable fixtures include Wales against New Zealand in Cardiff and France against the Wallabies in Paris.
England will face Argentina at Twickenham on Sunday.
South Africa will replace Ireland as the No.1 ranked team in the world if they beat them on Saturday.
France, the world’s No.2 ranked team, cannot improve their rating with victory over Australia due to the 7.33 rating points between the sides before home weighting is factored in.
With New Zealand also only able to improve their rating by a maximum of one point, Ireland are guaranteed to stay top of the rankings if they avoid defeat against South Africa.
However, Ireland could drop from first to fourth if they lose by more than 15 points or New Zealand beat Wales by the same margin if the Irish lose at home by less.
Second place will belong to New Zealand if a win by more than 15 points is accompanied by a Springboks loss and a draw or defeat for France.
South Africa can fall no lower than fourth with a heavy defeat in Dublin.
England can only improve on fifth if they beat Argentina by more than 15 points and New Zealand slip to defeat in Cardiff, a scenario which would see the sides swap places and condemn the All Blacks to equalling their lowest-ever position
It is possible for England to climb to third, but this would also require Australia to beat France by more than 15 points.
Australia can only build on last weekend’s three-place gain to sixth if they win by more than 15 points and England are beaten by Argentina at Twickenham.
If Australia’s margin of victory is smaller then Los Pumas must win by more than 15 points for the Wallabies to climb to fifth.
Argentina will be the higher ranked of the two nations if they beat England by that margin with a climb of up to three places possible for Los Pumas depending on other results.
England could fall as low as seventh if they suffer such a heavy loss and Australia win.
Wales will climb above a beaten Australia into sixth place if they can end a 69-year wait for victory over New Zealand.
However, they could drop two places to ninth if beaten, slipping below a defeated Argentina and Scotland side that are victorious against Fiji.
