England extend lead at the top of Zurich World Rankings

England's recent wins away in New Zealand and Australia have cemented themselves at the top of the Zurich World Rankings, further extending their lead over second-placed New Zealand.

England have now accumulated their highest points total ever in the rankings and are now a considerable 77 points ahead of the All Blacks who will need an impressive clean sweep in the Tri-Nations competition to have any chance of over-hauling Clive Woodward's men going into the RWC warm-up phase.

However, England have not yet broken the 1300 barrier in the Zurich World Rankings and emulated the feat of Nick Mallett's South African side who hit a best ever mark of 1317 rankings points in September 1998.

If England were the big winners in the action-packed month of June, their European rivals France were the biggest losers after their series defeat to Argentina and a further loss to New Zealand although they remain safe in fourth after South Africa's recent lacklustre results.

Meanwhile, Argentina's steady rise in the rankings continues with the Pumas now at their highest-ever position in the world, up to seventh ahead of Six Nations's sides Wales and Scotland and up from 10th in the world in January 2000 after the conclusion of the last Rugby World Cup.

Lower down the table, Italy ride their luck and gain a place thanks to Canada's recent home defeat to the USA - this after opting out of Test action in June and choosing New Zealand provincial opponents instead.

Churchill Cup matches involving the uncapped England XV have not been accounted for in this month's calculations.

Zurich World Rankings (as of July 1, 2003):

(-) 1 England 1287 (+48)
(-) 2 New Zealand 1210 (+4)
(-) 3 Australia 1153 (+7)
(-) 4 France 1096 (-43)
(-) 5 South Africa 1042 (-3)
(-) 6 Ireland 882 (-11)
(+1) 7 Argentina 798 (+36)
(-1) 8 Scotland 772 (-9)
(-) 9 Wales 687 (-15)
(-) 10 Samoa 664 (-16)
(+1) 11 Italy 593
(-1) 12 Canada 591 (-12)
13 Fiji 567
(-) 14 Tonga 517 (-5)
(-) 15 Japan 457 (+11)
(-) 16 United States 407 (+15)
17 Romania 383
18 Georgia 359
19 Uruguay 307
20 Namibia 294

21 Portugal 292
(-) 22 Russia 276 (-6)
(+2) 23 Morocco 258 (+7)
(-1) 24 Tunisia 254
(-1) 25 Chile 251
(+1) 26= Cote d'Ivoire 237 (-3)
(+3) 26= Czech Republic 237 (+5)
28 Spain 234
(+1) 29 Cook Islands 230
(-4) 30 Korea 228 (-13)
31 Germany 225
32 Ukraine 224
33 Poland 219
34 Netherlands 218
35 Denmark 211
36 Croatia 210
37 Slovenia 207
38 Switzerland 204
39 Zimbabwe 201
40 Brazil 198

41 Latvia 197
42 Sweden 196
43 Belgium 193
44 Papua New Guinea 193
45 Chinese Taipei 190
46 Hong Kong 188
47 Paraguay 171
48 Madagascar 169
49 Arabian Gulf 163
(-) 50 Kenya 158 (+3)
51 Yugoslavia 150
52 Trinidad and Tobago 147
53 Hungary 140
(-) 54 Austria 135 (-1)
55 Bermuda 132
(-) 56 Andorra 131
(-1) 57 Malaysia 126 (-5)
58 Thailand 125
59 Moldova 121
60 China 119

(+1) 61 Singapore 112 (+8)
(+1) 62 Uganda 101
(-2) 63 Lithuania 98 (-11)
64= Zambia 93 (-3)
(+1) 64= Kazakhstan 93
66 Botswana 92
67 Sri Lanka 91
68 Venezuela 87
69= Cameroon 79
69= Cayman Islands 79
(-) 71 Israel 77 (-1)
72 Tahiti 72
(+1) 73 Bosnia 70 (+8)
(-1) 74 Malta 66
(+1) 75 Bulgaria 58 (+3)
(-1) 76 Luxembourg 57
77 Niue Island 55
78 Jamaica 48
79= Solomon Islands 37
79= Peru 37
81 Monaco 36
82 Swaziland 34
83 Barbados 29
84= Mexico 26
(-) 84= Norway 26 (-)
86= Bahamas 24
86= Guyana 24
88 Vanuatu 23
89 Colombia 20