17 of the top 22 teams in the IRB World Rankings are all in
action this weekend and there are a number of changes to positions
that could occur.
Having beaten Argentina last weekend Scotland can climb two
places into seventh with a similar victory, their highest position
since November 2006, although they have never recorded successive
victories against the South Americans on Argentinean soil.
Andy Robinson's men could also achieve their highest ever
position of sixth with a victory of more than 15 points. This
would, however, only happen if Australia were to beat England by
more than 15 points for the first time since 2006.
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If England lose to Australia at the ANZ stadium for a second
successive week and Argentina win, Argentina would reclaim the
sixth place they lost to England last week, and England would drop
to seventh, with Australia also remaining in third.
The other matches affecting the top 10 sees New Zealand take
on Wales and South Africa play 11th placed Italy.
Wales have never beaten New Zealand, currently first in the
IRB World Rankings, away from home, but if they did so by any
margin they would gain 2 rating points and move up to sixth. The
current World Champions South Africa can claim first place if they
beat Italy by more than 15 points, and Wales do the same to New
Zealand.
Reclaiming lost ground
The ANZ Pacific Nations Cup reaches the second round of matches
this weekend with Fiji meeting Tonga and Japan playing Samoa at
Apia Park.
Having narrowly lost to Samoa 24-23 last week and slipping
two ranking positions to 17th, Tonga will be looking to bounce back
and reclaim lost ground.
They can climb as high as 13th, a gain of four places, with a
victory of more than 15 points over Fiji. Tonga have won three of
the four meetings against Fiji and any margin of victory will move
them up to 14th, although Fiji would remain 10th.
Japan and Samoa play in the second match, and a victory of
more than 15 points for the hosts will see them climb one place
above Italy into 11th. A victory of any kind for the visitors will
see the two teams swap places and .5 rating points meaning Japan
would sit 12th.
In the Churchill Cup Bowl final, Russia can move up one place
to 18th with a victory over Uruguay, but a South American victory
of any margin would see the teams swap places.
Namibia can also climb two places to 20th above Russia if
Uruguay win, as long as they beat Georgia in the Nations Cup by
more than 15 points as they look to win their first ever Nations
Cup. They will climb one place and gain 1.71 rating points with any
margin over victory and Georgia would drop to 17th.
Big gains on offer in CAR
The other highest possible gain this week is for Morocco.
Having already beaten Senegal 60-0 in the CAR Trophy this week, a
victory of any margin against Tunisia will see them gain 3.05
rating points and six places to 25th. If their defeat is by more
than 15 points, Tunisia would drop five places to 34th.
Ivory Coast and Senegal play in the other CAR Trophy match
that will affect the rankings this weekend and despite losing to
Tunisia, Senegal could climb eight places from 63rd to 55th with
any margin of victory and Ivory Coast would slip from 40th to 45th.
Uganada can climb four places to 40th with a victory of more
than 15 points against Zimbabwe in the Victoria Cup, and a second
successive defeat, having lost to Kenya last week, would see
Zimbabwe drop three more places to 51st. They can climb to 44th
however with a victory of more than 15 points themselves.
For a full break down of the changes in the rankings, the IRB
World Rankings update at 12:00 UK time every Monday.