Scotland and Japan on the move

Tuesday 17th June 2008

Scotland and Japan are the most notable movers in this week's IRB World Rankings after both sides won victories against higher-ranked opposition at the weekend.

The Scots overcame the number three side in the world, Argentina, 26-14 to square their two-Test series and climb back above Fiji into ninth in the world list.

The Pumas' rating falls by two whole points, still not enough to take them outside the world's top three teams.

Japan's outstanding 35-13 win against Tonga on home soil in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup moves them above Canada into their highest-ever ranking position of 15th.

As a result of the victory, which also suggests that coach John Kirwan is starting to see some tangible return from his work with the Cherry Blossoms, Tonga drop back below Samoa into 13th.

World number one South Africa's second successive win on home soil against sixth-ranked Wales leaves their rating point unchanged, while New Zealand's convincing win against England gave them a small rating adjustment of 0.12, which still leaves them 1.1 rating points behind the Springboks.

Lower down the rankings Thailand were the week's biggest movers, up three to 62 following their 30-7 defeat of Malaysia in the Asian Five Nations Division 2 final.

The victory also gained the Thai side a place in Asia's Division 1 next year, which also doubles as round 2 of the Rugby World Cup qualifying for Asia.

IRB World Rankings

1(1) SOUTH AFRICA 90.81
2(2) NEW ZEALAND 89.71
3(3) ARGENTINA 85.42
4(4) AUSTRALIA 84.20
5(5) ENGLAND 83.24
6(6) WALES 80.12
7(7) FRANCE 79.61
8(8) IRELAND 77.18
9(10) SCOTLAND 76.92
10(9) FIJI 76.29
11(11) ITALY 73.57
12(13) SAMOA 71.20
13(12) TONGA 69.67
14(14) GEORGIA 69.43
15(16) JAPAN 68.05
16(15) CANADA 67.25
17(17) ROMANIA 67.20
18(18) RUSSIA 65.22
19(19) USA 64.68
20(20) URUGUAY 62.40
21(21) SPAIN 61.55
22(22) KOREA 59.02
23(23) PORTUGAL 58.88
24(24) CHILE 57.07
25(25) GERMANY 57.05
26(26) NAMIBIA 56.82
27(27) BELGIUM 55.87
28(28) MOROCCO 54.14
29(29) PARAGUAY 53.82
30(30) HONG KONG 53.16
31(31) UGANDA 52.89
32(32) TUNISIA 52.81
33(33) BRAZIL 52.55
34(34) POLAND 52.48
35(35) KAZAKHSTAN 52.31
36(36) CZECH REPUBLIC 51.92
37(37) UKRAINE 51.77
38(38) MOLDOVA 51.56
39(39) SWEDEN 50.92
40(40) KENYA 49.51
41(41) CHINA 48.83
42(42) IVORY COAST 48.20
43(43) MADAGASCAR 47.92
44(44) LITHUANIA 47.84
45(45) CROATIA 47.80
46(46) TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 47.79
47(47) LATVIA 47.38
48(48) NETHERLANDS 47.36
49(49) CHINESE TAIPEI 47.02
50(50) SRI LANKA 46.79

Correct as of Monday 16 June 2008

With thanks to the IRB