England climb above Wales
England have moved above Wales to fourth in the latest World Rankings, despite not winning a Test in their three-match series with the Boks.
France sit only six-hundredths of a ranking point behind the English, moving up from seventh thanks to their 49-10 success in Tucumán.
Defeat leaves Argentina eighth, which is relevant looking ahead to the next Rugby World Cup. At the end of 2012, the IRB World Rankings will be used to determine the seeding for the 12 sides who have already qualified for the 2015 showpiece.
The sides will be seeded in three bands, meaning 1-4 in the world (plus 5-8 and 9-12) will be guaranteed separate pools.
England's return to fourth might provide some relief at Twickenham, but Argentina, having risen to sixth during the June Test window, are in a precarious spot.
Fall to ninth, for instance, and they would be in the same pool as two big hitters; on current standings that could be the All Blacks and France.
New Zealand, Australia and South Africa remain the top three sides in the world, but the flurry of Test activity means every side from fourth to twelfth changes position.
Ireland, blown away 60-0 by the All Blacks, rise one to eighth thanks to events around them, while the Welsh, having lost to Australia by the narrowest of margins, drop two to sixth.
Scotland put a disappointing Six Nations campaign behind them to outdo their touring European counterparts with a three from three record.
Their one-point win over Samoa in Apia at the weekend translates to a one-place rise in the standings to ninth - having started the month twelfth - and relegates their opposition one spot to tenth.
Fiji's 29-17 victory over Tonga secured second place in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup and shunted their opponents down one place to twelfth in the world.
Canada - one ahead of fourteenth-placed Fiji - consolidated their position by beating Georgia handsomely 31-12 in British Columbia. Wins by 16 points or more attract greater credit so Canada's tally goes up by more than half a ranking point.
IRB World Rankings
(Previous position bracketed)
1(1) New Zealand 91.43
2(2) Australia 87.05
3(3) South Africa 84.87
4(5) England 83.09
5(7) France 83.03
6(4) Wales 82.26
7(8) Ireland 79.85
8(6) Argentina 79.25
9(10) Scotland 77.97
10(9) Samoa 76.23
11(12) Italy 76.03
12(11) Tonga 74.79
13(13) Canada 72.30
14(14) Fiji 70.60
15(15) Georgia 67.95
With thanks to the IRB
Comments
hayj05 says...
Here was me thinking the draw would of lifted England to 1st...
Posted 03:36 26th June 2012
Kiwikev says...
@ alanatleeds
Pray tell, who is this nefarious organization - the "IRD"?
Posted 02:00 26th June 2012
sandal says...
Whoa! Someone at the IRB is brilliant!
Last Saturday afternoon, before the evening's test, the All Blacks had 91.43 ranking points, and Ireland had 79.85. That was following the ABs' three-point victory the previous weekend. These teams then played each other and the ABs' margin of victory leapt up to 60 points.
Now, The IRB must have foreseen that result exactly, because it made no change to the teams' ranking points afterwards.
To think that the IRB rankings guru, or computer, foresaw that scoreline after the previous week's three-point margin. Remarkable!
But not only did the IRB's rankings system foresee the scoreline, the fact that no alteration was made to the teams' ranking points indicates that the IRB thinks the scoreline was entirely predicatable. That is even more remarkable! Genius, in fact!
But do you know what is really spooky? The IRB must have foreseen the succession of 42-10, 22-19 and 60-0 scorelines and thought they were all entirely predictable, because no adjustments have been made to NZ's ranking points since the World Cup. Someone at the IRB is working overtime!
And here was a fool like me thinking the 60-0 defeat of Ireland would have put some more distance between the ABs and South Africa and Australia.
Nah!
I wonder if it is the same genius at the IRB who thinks Wayne Barnes is an international ref?
Posted 00:21 26th June 2012
leinsterblue says...
have to agree with marko72 - how is that we can concede 144 points over three tests (and we only scored 2 tries in the process) and we still move up...have to admit that this is pretty baffling...
Posted 23:32 25th June 2012
zambokke says...
Hey, so does this mean that we played the best NH side? Ha ha.
Posted 23:25 25th June 2012
pierredelot1 says...
Its of no consequence. Wales were learly the best team in the Northern Hemisphere last season and until something happens to change that they will remain so. The usual petit nationalistic crap goes on.
Posted 22:27 25th June 2012
atg77 says...
I think Argentina will struggle to win any games in the RC... althought they might have a chance at home against Australia.
Posted 22:27 25th June 2012
kybone says...
Obviously Ireland have moved up above the Argies because Argentina were also hammered, at home, and by a team previously below them in the rankings. FISH- why are the standings kind to England? Of the teams below us only Wales won the last time we met. As for your comments on Wales i think you're wide of the mark. They may have been whitewashed but they only lost by the odd point despite being below their best and away from home.
Posted 21:02 25th June 2012
jontheref says...
But didn't we beat you last time out, at your "fortrust"?
As marko says, Ireland lose by a record score yet go up?
Let us be in the same pool as Englnd, and we'll beat them!
Posted 21:01 25th June 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
Irish fan... Probably all countries touring NZ would return home 0-3 with one hammering. Ireland should go up one if others lost to lesser teams. I think IRB rankings are spot on
Posted 21:01 25th June 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
I though England were 4th before the tours?
Posted 20:32 25th June 2012
Rugbydaft says...
What a lot of xxxxxxxks
Posted 20:17 25th June 2012
Headhunter99 says...
Always nice to see Wales below England !!
Posted 18:38 25th June 2012
alanatleeds says...
There are lies, damned lies and IRD World Rankings IMHO
Posted 18:29 25th June 2012
marko72 says...
As an Irish fan it makes no sense.... Hammered embarrassed and end up going up one!
Posted 18:24 25th June 2012
jackblack says...
Argentina will be hard to beat at home and I reckon they'll at least beat Aussie, but could even upset the Boks or ABs, which means the South could dominate the top 4 and not just the top 3...
Posted 17:50 25th June 2012
FISH says...
yeah the welsh were waay over rated.....and i think the standings are particularly kind to england and france.....despite the welsh really not being any good at all...i still feel they're better than the french
Posted 17:37 25th June 2012
astrospange says...
It couldn't happen to a nicer team.
Posted 17:00 25th June 2012