Ireland moved up to fifth place in the IRB World rankings following Sunday’s 29-9 victory over Argentina at the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland were the only team in the top ten to climb up the rankings and moved ahead of France, who were trashed 59-16 by Australia on Saturday evening, and Scotland, who recorded an unconvincing 19-16 triumph over Samoa.
Unsurprisingly, southern hemisphere nations New Zealand, Australia and South Africa make up the top three, while England are the highest ranked European nation in fourth place.
The All-Blacks will end the year as the highest-ranked nation, which they have done in every year bar one since the introduction of the rankings in October 2003.
IRB World Rankings Top 10:
- New Zealand – Rating Point: (93.19)
- Australia (87.45)
- South Africa (86.44)
- England (82.48)
- Ireland (81.79)
- France (81.66)
- Scotland (81.20)
- Argentina (78.97)
- Wales (77.04)
- Fiji (74.05)
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