France move up rankings

(IRB.COM) Monday 15 June 2009

France have jumped from eighth to fifth in the latest IRB World Rankings after defeating number one ranked New Zealand 27-22 in Dunedin on Saturday.

It is France’s highest ranking for more than 12 months. Although New Zealand remain in top position in the rankings, their lead over South Africa has been cut from more than three ratings points to just over one.

Argentina, who defeated England 24-22 in Salta on Saturday, move up one place to sixth, while England drop two to seventh. Wales also drop two places to eighth despite not playing as France and Argentina were both ranked below them before their respective wins.

Multiple changes further down rankings

Although there were 16 positional changes as a result of matches in the last seven days, one match which didn’t cause a change was Fiji’s away win over Tonga in the opening encounter of this year’s ANZ Pacific Nations Cup. Fiji remain in ninth, more than four ratings points behind Wales. Tonga are now just 0.6 ratings points ahead of Georgia in 14th.

Tunisia, who defeated Uganda 41-17 in the first leg of their Africa Cup semi final - which forms part of the continents Rugby World Cup 2011 qualifying process, jump four places in the rankings to 28th, ahead of Brazil. Uganda fall six places to 42nd, behind Moldova.

The Ivory Coast’s 13-13 draw with the higher-ranked Namibia in the same competition moves them up one place to 40th. Namibia remain in 25th, but fall further behind Korea above them.

IRB World Rankings - 15 June 2009

Position (last week)/Member Union/Rating Point

1(1) NEW ZEALAND 90.68
2(2) SOUTH AFRICA 89.45
3(3) AUSTRALIA 85.86
4(4) IRELAND 83.27
5(8) FRANCE 81.94
6(7) ARGENTINA 81.29
7(5) ENGLAND 81.23
8(6) WALES 80.74
9(9) FIJI 76.02
10(10) SCOTLAND 75.23
11(11) SAMOA 72.57
12(12) ITALY 71.23
13(13) CANADA 70.68
14(14) TONGA 69.27
15(15) GEORGIA 68.67
16(16) JAPAN 68.05
17(17) RUSSIA 66.57
18(18) ROMANIA 64.85
19(19) USA 63.55
20(20) URUGUAY 62.57
21(21) PORTUGAL 62.16
22(22) SPAIN 59.01
23(23) CHILE 57.95
24(24) KOREA 57.90
25(25) NAMIBIA 56.45
26(26) GERMANY 55.35
27(27) KAZAKHSTAN 55.12
28(32) TUNISIA 55.02
29(28) BRAZIL 54.97
30(29) POLAND 54.42
31(30) UKRAINE 54.17
32(31) BELGIUM 53.67
33(33) MOROCCO 52.25
34(34) HONG KONG 52.07
35(35) CZECH REPUBLIC 51.48
36(37) NETHERLANDS 51.02
37(38) PARAGUAY 50.93
38(39) LITHUANIA 50.79
39(40) KENYA 50.62
40(41) IVORY COAST 50.47
41(42) MOLDOVA 49.84
42(36) UGANDA 49.76
43(43) CROATIA 48.94
44(44) SWEDEN 48.03
45(45) ARABIAN GULF 47.96
46(46) MADAGASCAR 47.71
47(47) TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 46.77
48(48) CHINA 46.25
49(49) CHINESE TAIPEI 46.16
50(50) SINGAPORE 45.98
51(51) SRI LANKA 45.90
52(52) PAPUA NEW GUINEA 45.52
53(53) MALTA 45.11
54(54) ZIMBABWE 44.45
55(55) COOK ISLANDS 44.03
56(56) VENEZUELA 43.92
57(57) SWITZERLAND 43.83
58(58) LATVIA 43.52
59(59) SERBIA 43.09
60(60) NIUE ISLANDS 42.36
61(61) SLOVENIA 42.27
62(62) BERMUDA 42.26
63(63) CAYMAN 42.12
64(64) HUNGARY 42.12
65(65) COLOMBIA 42.03
66(66) DENMARK 41.62
67(67) GUYANA 41.52
68(68) SENEGAL 41.44
69(69) MALAYSIA 41.23
70(70) BARBADOS 40.96
71(71) THAILAND 40.84
72(72) PERU 40.64
73(73) ZAMBIA 40.64
74(74) ANDORRA 40.37
75(75) BOTSWANA 39.53
76(76) ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES 39.30
77(77) SOLOMON ISLANDS 39.06
78(78) CAMEROON 38.97
79(79) ST. LUCIA 37.57
80(80) ISRAEL 37.56
81(81) GUAM 36.80
82(82) SWAZILAND 36.68
83(83) INDIA 36.61
84(84) JAMAICA 36.61
85(85) NORWAY 36.44
86(86) BAHAMAS 36.33
87(87) TAHITI 36.25
88(88) MONACO 35.92
89(89) BULGARIA 35.49
90(90) BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 35.43
91(91) NIGERIA 35.29
92(92) VANUATU 34.77
93(93) AUSTRIA 34.01
94(94) LUXEMBOURG 33.52
95(95) FINLAND 30.32