Wales climb above England in rankings

Back-to-back defeats hurt Ireland

Wales have followed up their stunning Grand Slam success with another notable triumph - moving above England in the official IRB World Rankings.

The Six Nations champions have claimed fifth spot on the International Rugby Board chart, one place clear of England, with Ireland down to seventh.

And it is further confirmation of a remarkable Welsh revival, one that has seen them graduate from hapless Six Nations wooden spoonists to Europe's rugby throne in just two years.

"Two years ago, we didn't win a game," recalled 48 times-capped fly-half orchestrator Stephen Jones, after the Grand Slam and Triple Crown-clinching 32-20 victory over Ireland.

"It is the same nucleus of players, and to be a part of a squad that has turned things around through a lot of hard work and that little bit more experience, is a very special place to be.

"You have to give everyone credit across the board. We've slowly progressed. We didn't get a major scalp in the autumn Tests, but we nearly did, and since then we've kept moving forward.

"It was very important for us to get our first major scalp, and we were fortunate enough to do that at home to England,"

Meanwhile Wales coach Mike Ruddock has backed his Grand Slam heroes to be Lions kings in New Zealand.

Injuries permitting, Gareth Thomas, Shane Williams, Tom Shanklin, Gavin Henson, Stephen Jones, Dwayne Peel, Gethin Jenkins, Martyn Williams and Michael Owen would all appear to be leading contenders for the tour.

Flanker Colin Charvis, who missed the Six Nations due to a broken foot, is another strong candidate, and given Wales' dominance of this season's tournament, the list could stretch well into double figures.

"The players have done the business, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are 10-plus Welsh players on the tour - at the minimum, 10, and I would have thought there will be a lot more," said Ruddock.

"I am quite excited about the fact that a lot of players could go on the Lions tour and come back with a lot of good experiences and further their rugby development."

For Ruddock, the challenge now is to keep Wales moving forward, starting with a summer trip to North America where he might blood members of another Grand Slam-winning side this term - the Wales Under-21 team.

"The test of the [senior] team now will be to try and keep those high standards going, and to try and keep improving. We have got huge competition for places, and that should allow us to continue to be very competitive in the future," he added.

"If we can, we want to try and get this team peaking around about the next World Cup. Every nation wants that, don't they?

"There will be a lot more work going into this team from the coaches, and particularly from Andrew Hore, who has done a magnificent job on the strength and conditioning side.

"There are always new challenges and our new challenge will be living with a tag of being the team everyone wants to beat.

"But everyone has got their feet on the ground and we know that if we drop our standards, we are going to be knocked over."

IRB World Rankings (top 30) - March 21
Last week's positions in brackets

1 (1): New Zealand - 90.90 points
2 (2): Australia - 88.58
3 (3): South Africa - 85.78
4 (4): France - 84.67
5 (7): Wales - 83.08
6 (6): England - 82.81
7 (5): Ireland - 82.14
8 (8): Argentina - 77.63
9 (9): Fiji - 74.17
10 (10): Scotland - 73.48
11 (11): Italy - 70.82
12 (12): Samoa - 70.13
13 (13): Canada - 68.12
14 (14): Romania - 67.19
15 (15): Uruguay - 66.92
16 (16): USA - 66.42
17 (17): Portugal - 66.00
18 (18): Japan - 65.00
19 (19): Georgia - 62.84
20 (20): Tonga - 62.72
21 (21): Korea - 60.25
22 (22): Morocco - 59.94
23 (24): Czech Republic - 59.45
24 (23): Namibia - 59.38
25 (25): Chile - 58.79
26 (26): Russia - 57.55
27 (27): Hong Kong - 55.50
28 (28): Germany - 55.16
29 (29): Ukraine - 55.10
30 (30): Tunisia - 54.09