IRELAND HAVE MOVED up to sixth in the IRB’s official world rankings after the 40-9 victory over Samoa on Saturday evening in Dublin.
That means we are the biggest risers in the top 20 of the list, having jumped two places from eighth. Joe Schmidt’s men move above Samoa and Wales, who lost 24-15 to South Africa in Cardiff on Saturday.
Ireland’s lowest ever positioning within the rankings came as recently as March of this year, when the Six Nations defeat to Italy saw us drop to ninth. Ireland’s highest-ever ranking was third in 2003 (the year the IRB’s list was first launched) and 2006.
New Zealand remain top of the pile following their win over France, although second-placed South Africa have slightly narrowed the gap after beating Wales. Italy, Fiji and Japan have all moved up the pecking order inside the top 20, with Tonga and Canada dropping down to accommodate them.
Realistically these IRB rankings mean little, especially as the pool draw for the 2015 Rugby World Cup has already been made. Still, it is satisfying for Ireland to have shifted up the table and the hope is that there is plenty more to come in this regard. Fourth-placed Australia are next up for Schmidt’s men and he will be eyeing another rise up the leader board at the earliest stage possible.
The latest top 20 list. Via: http://www.irb.com.
