Wales leapfrog Ireland in World Rankings
Yesterday’s 23-21 defeat to Wales has seen Ireland fall two places in the IRB World Rankings from sixth to eighth.
Leigh Halfpenny’s last-minute penalty was enough for Warren Gatland’s men to clinch a vital away victory in the opening weekend of the Six Nations and the Welsh replace Ireland as the third-highest ranked northern hemisphere team.
The drop sees Ireland fall below Argentina in the rankings with Tonga sitting one place behind in ninth.
The only other shift in the rankings came courtesy of England’s 13-6 triumph at Murrayfield which condemned Scotland to a lowly 11th place.
IRB World Rankings as of Monday, February 6 (last week’s position in brackets):
1 (1): New Zealand
2 (2): Australia
3 (3): France
4 (4): South Africa
5 (5): England
6 (8): Wales
7 (7): Argentina
8 (6): Ireland
9 (9): Tonga
10 (11): Samoa
11 (10): Scotland
12 (12): Italy
