Ireland rank above England

IRELAND have leapfrogged England in the IRB world rankings, ahead of the world champions’ Six Nations game in Dublin on February 27.

France, 18-17 winners at Twickenham against England on Sunday, have moved up to fourth, with England down to sixth.

Ireland rise up to fifth - on the back of their 40-13 defeat of Scotland on Saturday. Eddie O’Sullivan, who presided over his 30th win in 41 games, against the Scots, has guided his side to nine wins since the start of 2004 - also losing to France 12 months ago, and Tri-Nations winners South Africa twice last summer.

England, on the other hand, have lost eight of their last 13 games. Scotland are tenth - just below Fiji in the official standings - while Wales and Italy are unmoved in seventh and eleventh.

OFFICIAL IRB WORLD RANKINGS: (1) New Zealand 90.90 Rating points; (2) Australia 88.58; (3) South Africa 85.78; (4) France 85.12; (5) Ireland 83.61; (6) England 83.50; (7) Wales 79.58; (8) Argentina 77.63; (9) Fiji 74.17; (10) Scotland 73.94.