Rankings blow for England and Wales

Rankings blow for England and Wales

November 25, 2012

England's ambitions of winning the 2015 Rugby World Cup have taken a blow with the confirmation they will not be in the top-four seeds for the tournament that they will host.

But the stiutaion could be significantly worse for Wales. Warren Gatland's side face a crunch clash with Australia on Saturday at the Millennium Stadium, where a defeat would see them relegated to the third tier of seeds for the World Cup draw which will take place in London on December 3.

The International Rugby Board will reveal the latest world rankings tomorrow with New Zealand, Australia, France and South Africa occupying the top spots. And with the rankings gap between them and the rest too big to be overturned by next weekend's internationals, those four teams will be the top four seeds for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

England face the All Blacks at Twickenham on Saturday but defeats to Australia and South Africa this autumn have already scuppered their hopes of securing a top seeding, which could have led to a favourable draw for the 2015 World Cup.

Wales' hopes of gate-crashing the top four was ruined by defeats to Argentina, Samoa and the All Blacks. But victory over Australia at the Millennium Stadium will secure their place alongside England, Samoa and Ireland in the second band.

However defeat would see Wales, who finished fourth at the World Cup in New Zealand a year ago, drop into the third tier of seeds along with Italy, Scotland and Tonga with Argentina taking their place in the second band of seeds.

Wales' surprise defeats to Argentina and Samoa earlier this autumn - when Gatland was granted time away to focus on preparations for the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia next summer - could therefore prove decisive in their chances at the 2015 World Cup.

The official IRB world rankings will be released on Monday.

Provisional rankings:

1. New Zealand - 92.91

2. South Africa - 86.94

3. Australia - 86.31

4. France - 85.07

5. England - 81.07

6. Ireland - 80.22

7. Wales - 78.95

8. Samoa - 78.71 (78.709236088306938 to 15 decimal places)

9. Argentina - 78.71 (78.708853582562098 to 15 decimal places)

10. Italy - 76.24

11. Tonga - 76.10

12. Scotland - 75.83

So, its official...finally....Northern hemisphere style rugby cannot keep pace with the Southern hemisphere style. Yes we suck.

Finally Andy Robinson, coach of Scotland has gone. Scotland now have a chance to progress.
I have been saying for years that the guy is absolutely the worst coach in pro rugby.