Kazakhstan move up five places to 29th in the latest IRB World Rankings after their 30-27 HSBC Asian Five Nations win over Korea.
The heroes for the home team in Almaty were veteran flanker Anton Rudoy, who scored three tries, and full back Maxim Lifontov, who kicked 15 points including a late penalty to edge his team ahead after Korea had fought back from 27-10 down midway through the second half.
Korea defeated Kazakhstan 40-21 in the corresponding fixture last year, the only previous match between the sides.
Korea fall two places to 24th, behind Spain and Chile. The South Americans enjoyed a net gain of 0.3 ratings points with a win over Paraguay and a loss against Uruguay in the South American Championship. Paraguay are the biggest fallers in the rankings this week, dropping from 33rd to 39th, after losing to Chile and Brazil.
In Europe, Croatia move up two places to 43rd following their 23-13 European Nations Cup win over Sweden. Israel improve one place to 86th after they defeated Finland 70-8. The Finns are now 0.2 rating points adrift of Luxembourg at the foot of the IRB World Rankings table.
