NEW ZEALAND REMAIN ON TOP OF THE WORLD
IRB
International Rugby Board
841.html
Sept 15 2008
Ireland
New Zealand not only retained their grip on the Tri Nations and
Bledisloe Cup trophies by defeating Australia 28-24 in Brisbane on
Saturday, but also strengthened their position at the top of the IRB
World Rankings.
The All Blacks have improved their rating points by 0.83 to 92.04
following their away victory at Suncorp Stadium, stretching their
advantage over world champions South Africa in second spot to 4.29
rating points.
Australia remain third despite the loss in the final Tri Nations
encounter of 2008, albeit now two points adrift of South Africa and
still a similar margin above Argentina and England below them.
There may have been no change at the top of the rankings, but there
were further down following the opening matches of the European
Nations Cup 2010, which doubles as the region’s qualifying process
for Rugby World Cup 2011.
Slovenia are the biggest movers of the last seven days, climbing two
places to 66th – at the expense of Guyana and Senegal – on the back
of their 32-26 defeat of Hungary in their Division 3B encounter in
Ljubljana on Saturday.
Hungary slip one place to 73rd as a result of the away loss, swapping
places with Serbia who climb one position despite suffering a 41-0
defeat on home soil by Armenia in Division 3A the same day.
This is because their conquerors Armenia are not yet a full Member
Union of the International Rugby Board and therefore are not ranked,
meaning the heavy defeat in Smederevo had no impact on Serbia’s
position.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
