Rankings Confirm Ireland’s Eighth Place Position
Ireland will join their fellow fourth to eighth-ranked teams in Band 2 for the 2011 Rugby World Cup pool allocation draw on December 1, after their GUINNESS Series win over Argentina saw them retain eighth position in the IRB World Rankings.
Ireland, who would have slipped out of the top eight had they lost to the Pumas, have improved their rating points (to 78.45).
But they still sit just over a point behind France above them with Scotland, the 41-0 conquerors of Canada on Saturday, remaining ninth.
Wales are the only movers in the top 10 of the latest rankings. They climbed one place to sixth despite losing 29-9 to New Zealand with France falling to seventh.
France’s 18-13 loss to Australia on Saturday evening resulted in a 0.64 decrease in their rating points to 79.49. It also dropped them below Wales into seventh.
Details of the 2011 Rugby World Cup draw can be found here.
IRB WORLD RANKINGS (As of Monday, November 24):
1(1) NEW ZEALAND 92.43 rating points
2(2) SOUTH AFRICA 89.45
3(3) AUSTRALIA 87.34
4(4) ARGENTINA 81.56
5(5) ENGLAND 81.11
6(7) WALES 79.55
7(6) FRANCE 79.49
8(8) IRELAND 78.45
9(9) SCOTLAND 76.76
10(10) FIJI 75.24
– Last week’s positions in brackets