England’s 25-20 loss to France in Paris has seen them fall to fifth in the World Rugby rankings, with the Springboks moving past them.
With one match to go before the start of the World Cup, England are in danger of going into the tournament ranked lower than Pool A rivals Australia and Wales. Stuart Lancaster's men are now just 1.3 points ahead of sixth-placed Wales, who travel to Dublin to play Ireland on Saturday. England conclude their warm-up campaign against the Irish the following weekend.
England lost 1.29 ratings points at the weekend to drop to 84.24 points, with South Africa at 85.15. France remain in seventh, although Les Bleus have now closed to just over two rating points behind Wales.
It may not have been the prettiest of wins, but Scotland’s 16-12 victory over Italy in Turin was enough to see them return to the world’s top 10 ranked nations. Scotland move from 12th to 10th, climbing above Tonga and Samoa, after gaining a full rating point.
Japan climb up one place to 14th at the expense of Italy even though their 30-8 win against Uruguay did not come with any boost to their rating.
The Brave Blossoms remain on 71.15 points while Italy, on 70.84 points, are marginally better off in the rankings than the USA (70.36), who made it three wins in a row against neighbours Canada with a 41-23 victory in Ottawa. Canada’s fifth straight loss cost them 1.27 ratings points but they remain 18th, two places behind the Eagles.
World Rugby rankings (Top 15)
1. New Zealand 92.89
2. Ireland 86.89
3. Australia 86.67
4. South Africa 85.15
5. England 84.24
6. Wales 82.94
7. France 80.90
8. Argentina 78.39
9. Fiji 77.04
10. Scotland 75.79
11. Tonga 75.25
12. Samoa 75.14
13. Georgia 72.16
14. Japan 71.15
15. Italy 70.84
Full rankings
How rankings work
Photo: Duif du Toit/Gallo Images
