Ireland on the rise
Joe Schmidt's side, who topped the pool with their 24-9 win against Les Bleus, have leapfrogged Wales (4) and South Africa (5) in the rankings – who each shigted down one place.
France dropped one place to seventh, following Sunday's defeat at the Millennium Stadium, swapping places with Ireland's quarterfinal opponents Argentina, who rose to sixth.
Seven of the eight RWC 2015 quarterfinalists feature in the top eight of the rankings; the exception being Scotland, who remain one place below England in ninth position.
Under the points exchange system used to calculate rankings, sides take points off each other based on the match result; whatever one side gains, the other loses. Such points exchanges are doubled during the Rugby World Cup to recognise the unique importance of the event.
Other changes from last week's rankings include Japan overtaking Fiji to go 10th and Italy climbing one place to 12th, above Tonga.
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