Scotland take a rankings tumble
Scotland have fallen out of the world’s top ten rugby nations following last weekend’s Six Nations loss to old rivals England at Murrayfield.
That 13-6 defeat saw Scotland drop down to 11th position as they swapped places with Samoa in the latest edition of the International Rugby Board (IRB) rankings published on Monday.
England remained fifth but Wales moved up to two places into sixth after a last-gasp 23-21 win over Ireland in Dublin on Sunday, with the Irish falling to eighth place.
World Cup finalists France, who cemented their status as Six Nations favourites by beating Italy at the weekend, stayed third behind world champions New Zealand and second-placed Australia.
IRB world rankings:
1 (1) New Zealand 91.43
2 (2) Australia 87.99
3 (3) France 84.70
4 (4) South Africa 84.34
5 (5) England 82.34
6 (8) Wales 81.01
7 (7) Argentina 80.28
8 (6) Ireland 79.25
9 (9) Tonga 76.63
10 (11) Samoa 75.81
11 (10) Scotland 75.44
12 (12) Italy 73.99
