See below for start of season IRB Rankings and I have gone back and listed the start of last seasons positions as well.

Not sure if this story was posted earlier but it was a good one demonstrating the depth of the code around the globe:

Lithuania the biggest climbers in 2008

(IRB.COM) Friday 12 December 2008

New Zealand may have reclaimed top position in the IRB World Rankings from South Africa during 2008 with the Tri Nations title and a European Grand Slam tour, but Lithuania will end the year as the most successful team in terms of positions gained since 1 January.

The climbers

Beginning the year in 55th position, Lithuania recorded six wins out of six in the European Nations Cup to move up 13 places to 42nd. It continues a remarkable run of consecutive victories, which now numbers 12 and stretches back to 6 May 2006 when they were defeated 22-0 by Slovenia.

Venezuela gained 12 places overall in 2008 despite a seemingly average record of two wins and two losses. But one of their wins, against Colombia during the South American B Championship in June, saw them shoot up nine places in one week.

Trinidad & Tobago’s Rugby World Cup 2011 qualifying campaign ended against Brazil in October, but not before they had moved up 10 places in the rankings since 1 January thanks to three unbeaten matches in the Caribbean qualifying tournament earlier in the year.

Points gained

Of the teams in the IRB World Rankings top 20, Wales were the highest climbers, moving up from 10th to fifth following a Six Nations Grand Slam. Wales also gained the most rankings points of all 95 full IRB Member Unions - 6.86 - over the course of the year.

Bosnia & Herzegovina, with five wins and one draw, meanwhile gained 6.16 ratings points and seven positions.

The fallers

Whatever one team gains in the IRB World Rankings, another loses. In 2008 the teams that dropped furthest in the rankings were Denmark and Luxembourg, who both ended the year 14 places lower than they had started it. Denmark lost all four of their European Nations Cup matches whilst Luxembourg were defeated in four of their five.

In terms of ratings points lost, Argentina head this category having shed 5.86 during the course of 2008. Despite this, the Pumas retained their top four ranking and a top band seeding in the RWC 2011 Draw. This was partly thanks to England losing 4.69 points and two rankings places since 1 January.

Rankings return

The first match of 2009 takes place on 31 January when Monaco face Azerbaijan in the European Nations Cup, although this will not impact the IRB World Rankings as Azerbaijan are not yet a Full Member Union of the International Rugby Board.

The rankings will therefore remain unchanged until February, when other European Nations Cup and Six Nations matches will undoubtedly herald the start of another year of changing fortunes in the IRB World Rankings.

IRB World Rankings - 02/02/09

Position (28/01/08) Member Union Rating Point

1(2) NEW ZEALAND 92.68
2(1) SOUTH AFRICA 89.45
3(5) AUSTRALIA 85.86
4(3) ARGENTINA 81.56
5(10) WALES 81.03
6(4) ENGLAND 80.86
7(6) FRANCE 79.49
8(7) IRELAND 78.45
9(8) SCOTLAND 76.76
10(9) FIJI 75.24

11(11) ITALY 74.64
12(12) SAMOA 72.57
13(13) TONGA 70.05
14(16) GEORGIA 69.43
15(14) CANADA 69.12
16(18) JAPAN 68.05
17(15) ROMANIA 67.20
18(17) RUSSIA 64.63
19(19) USA 63.55
20(20) URUGUAY 62.78

21(21) SPAIN 61.18
22(23) KOREA 59.02
23(22) PORTUGAL 58.57
24(24) CHILE 56.84
25(25) NAMIBIA 56.82
26(26) GERMANY 56.73
27(28) BELGIUM 55.12
28(33) BRAZIL 55.00
29(36) TUNISIA 53.37
30(27) HONG KONG 53.16

31(39) UKRAINE 52.71
32(37) POLAND 52.49
33(31) PARAGUAY 52.40
34(32) KAZAKHSTAN 52.31
35(30) MOROCCO 52.25
36(29) MOLDOVA 51.81
37(35) CZECH REPUBLIC 51.46
38(34) UGANDA 51.42
39(38) KENYA 50.62
40(44) IVORY COAST 50.09

41(46) NETHERLANDS 49.95
42(55) LITHUANIA 49.66
43(40) SWEDEN 49.44
44(41) CHINA 48.83
45(42) CROATIA 47.89
46(45) MADAGASCAR 47.71
47(57) TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 46.77
48(54) SINGAPORE 46.59
49(47) ARABIAN GULF 46.40
50(48) CHINESE TAIPEI 46.33

51(49) SRI LANKA 45.79
52(53) PAPUA NEW GUINEA 45.52
53(51) MALTA 45.14
54(52) SWITZERLAND 45.14
55(43) LATVIA 45.11
56(56) ZIMBABWE 44.45
57(50) COOK ISLANDS 44.03
58(70) VENEZUELA 43.92
59(65) SLOVENIA 43.72
60(69) NIUE ISLANDS 42.36

61(67) THAILAND 42.34
62(66) BERMUDA 42.26
63(58) CAYMAN 42.12
64(62) HUNGARY 42.11
65(63) COLOMBIA 42.03
66(72) GUYANA 41.52
67(73) SERBIA 41.46
68(68) SENEGAL 41.44
69(61) BARBADOS 40.96
70(64) ANDORRA 40.77

71(60) PERU 40.64
72(71) ZAMBIA 40.64
73(59) DENMARK 40.10
74(78) BOTSWANA 39.53
75(74) ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES 39.30
76(75) SOLOMON ISLANDS 39.06
77(81) CAMEROON 38.97
78(79) MALAYSIA 38.03
79(83) ST. LUCIA 37.57
80(84) INDIA 37.23

81(87) NORWAY 36.81
82(86) GUAM 36.80
83(82) SWAZILAND 36.68
84(76) JAMAICA 36.61
85(90) BAHAMAS 36.33
86(88) TAHITI 36.25
87(77) MONACO 35.92
88(95) BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 35.43
89(89) NIGERIA 35.29
90(85) AUSTRIA 35.17

91(93) ISRAEL 35.07
92(92) BULGARIA 35.05
93(91) VANUATU 34.77
94(80) LUXEMBOURG 34.49
95(94) FINLAND 30.98