England have reclaimed the mantle as the leading northern hemisphere nation in the latest IRB World Rankings after beating France 17-9 in the battle of the unbeaten teams in the RBS Six Nations at Twickenham on Saturday. The victory lifts England one place to fourth, opening up nearly a rating point advantage over France, and keeps them on track for a first Six Nations title and Grand Slam since 2003. However, they still remain 2.46 points behind South Africa in third.
Ireland remain sixth, another point adrift of France, after holding off a late Scottish fight back to win 21-18 at Murrayfield on Sunday. Scotland, still seeking a first win in this year’s Six Nations, stay in ninth between Argentina and Fiji.
Argentina now sit above Scotland after falling one place on the back of Wales’ hard fought 24-16 victory over Italy at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome on Saturday. The defeat leaves Italy in 12th, albeit now less than a rating point above Japan.
The one other nation on the rise in latest IRB World Rankings is Romania, who climb one place to 18th at the expense of Russia, the side they beat 33-3 in their European Nations Cup 2012 encounter at the stadionul National Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest on Saturday.
Only eight hundredths had separated the two Rugby World Cup 2011 bound sides going into the match, but Romania’s emphatic win – helped by 18 points from the boot of fly half Florin Vlaicu – has seen that turn into a two-point cushion.
Russia have now slipped into the clutches of Portugal, who remain 20th despite a narrow loss to defending champions Georgia in Lisbon. Georgia, who had topped 60 points in their two previous ENC matches, edged a tight affair 13-12 to close to 0.12 of Canada in 14th.
The weekend’s remaining European Nations Cup match, between Spain and Ukraine in Madrid, provided the one other change in the latest rankings. Spain triumphed 35-13 to claim their first win of the competition and stay 23rd, condemning their visitors to a one place fall to 30th.
Click here for a full explanation of the IRB World Rankings
FULL RANKINGS:
| Position (last week) | Member Union | Rating Point |
|---|---|---|
| 1(1) |  NEW ZEALAND |
93.19 |
| 2(2) |  AUSTRALIA |
87.45 |
| 3(3) |  SOUTH AFRICA |
86.44 |
4(5)  |
 ENGLAND |
83.98 |
5(4)  |
 FRANCE |
82.87 |
| 6(6) |  IRELAND |
81.95 |
| 7(8) |
 WALES |
79.57 |
| 8(7) |
 ARGENTINA |
78.97 |
| 9(9) |  SCOTLAND |
76.96 |
| 10(10) |  FIJI |
74.05 |
| 11(11) |  SAMOA |
74.02 |
| 12(12) |  ITALY |
72.16 |
| 13(13) |  JAPAN |
71.45 |
| 14(14) |  CANADA |
69.19 |
| 15(15) |  GEORGIA |
69.07 |
| 16(16) |  USA |
67.69 |
| 17(17) |  TONGA |
67.35 |
| 18(19) |
 ROMANIA |
65.44 |
| 19(18) |
 RUSSIA |
63.40 |
| 20(20) |  PORTUGAL |
62.95 |
| 21(21) |  URUGUAY |
60.94 |
| 22(22) |  NAMIBIA |
60.66 |
| 23(23) |  SPAIN |
58.53 |
| 24(24) |  BELGIUM |
56.78 |
| 25(25) |  CHL |
56.68 |
| 26(26) |  MOROCCO |
56.11 |
| 27(27) |  KAZAKHSTAN |
55.20 |
| 28(28) |  BRAZIL |
54.56 |
| 29(30) |
 GERMANY |
54.26 |
| 30(29) |
 UKRAINE |
53.86 |
| 31(31) |  CZECH REPUBLIC |
53.30 |
| 32(32) |  KOREA |
53.03 |
| 33(33) |  KENYA |
52.85 |
| 34(34) |  MOLDOVA |
52.50 |
| 35(35) |  TUNISIA |
52.24 |
| 36(36) |  HONG KONG |
51.57 |
| 37(37) |  POLAND |
51.33 |
| 38(38) |  PARAGUAY |
50.23 |
| 39(39) |  LITHUANIA |
49.83 |
| 40(40) |  SWEDEN |
49.71 |
| 41(41) |  NETHERLANDS |
48.63 |
| 42(42) |  SRI LANKA |
48.62 |
| 43(43) |  CROATIA |
48.15 |
| 44(44) |  UGANDA |
48.13 |
| 45(45) |  IVORY COAST |
47.52 |
| 46(46) |  TRINIDAD & TOBAGO |
47.19 |
| 47(47) |  MADAGASCAR |
46.45 |
| 48(48) |  PAPUA NEW GUINEA |
46.19 |
| 49(49) |  ZIMBABWE |
46.15 |
| 50(50) |  SINGAPORE |
45.03 |
| 51(51) |  BERMUDA |
44.74 |
| 52(52) |  COOK ISLANDS |
44.61 |
| 53(53) |  MALTA |
44.44 |
| 54(54) |  LATVIA |
43.85 |
| 55(55) |  SENEGAL |
43.83 |
| 56(56) |  ANDORRA |
43.77 |
| 57(57) |  MALAYSIA |
43.05 |
| 58(58) |  VENEZUELA |
42.88 |
| 59(59) |  THAILAND |
42.70 |
| 60(60) |  CHINESE TAIPEI |
42.58 |
| 61(61) |  SLOVENIA |
42.12 |
| 62(62) |  PERU |
41.98 |
| 63(63) |  COLOMBIA |
41.73 |
| 64(64) |  GUYANA |
41.52 |
| 65(65) |  CHINA |
41.39 |
| 66(66) |  SWITZERLAND |
41.36 |
| 67(67) |  DENMARK |
41.17 |
| 68(68) |  NIUE ISLANDS |
41.11 |
| 69(69) |  CAYMAN |
40.97 |
| 70(70) |  SERBIA |
40.81 |
| 71(71) |  ISRAEL |
40.44 |
| 72(72) |  ZAMBIA |
39.97 |
| 73(73) |  HUNGARY |
39.68 |
| 74(74) |  INDIA |
39.61 |
| 75(75) |  ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES |
39.30 |
| 76(76) |  BARBADOS |
39.21 |
| 77(77) |  SOLOMON ISLANDS |
39.06 |
| 78(78) |  CAMEROON |
38.21 |
| 79(79) |  BOTSWANA |
38.17 |
| 80(80) |  ST. LUCIA |
37.57 |
| 81(81) |  BULGARIA |
37.12 |
| 82(82) |  AUSTRIA |
36.87 |
| 83(83) |  GUAM |
36.80 |
| 84(84) |  SWAZILAND |
36.68 |
| 85(85) |  JAMAICA |
36.61 |
| 86(86) |  NORWAY |
36.36 |
| 87(87) |  BAHAMAS |
36.33 |
| 88(88) |  TAHITI |
36.25 |
| 89(89) |  BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA |
36.18 |
| 90(90) |  NIGERIA |
35.29 |
| 91(91) |  MONACO |
35.17 |
| 92(92) |  VANUATU |
34.77 |
| 93(93) |  LUXEMBOURG |
32.49 |
| 94(94) |  FINLAND |
27.70 |