Last year’s Grand Slam winners have climbed into the top four in the IRB World Rankings for the first time on the back of their 26-13 defeat of Scotland on the opening weekend of the RBS Six Nations 2009.
Warren Gatland’s side had gone into the Murrayfield encounter in fifth, just over half a rating point behind Argentina. However the four-try win over the Scots sees them move above the Pumas with an advantage now of 0.34 points.
Defeat to England would have meant Martin Johnson’s side would have climbed two places, returning to fourth for the first time since last November and swapping places with the Welsh.
But the eight point win meant Wales have consolidated their position over England and made ground up on third placed side Australia
OFFICIAL IRB WORLD RANKINGS: TOP 10 (Feb 9 2009)
| Position (last week) | Member Union | Rating Point |
|---|---|---|
| 1(1) | NEW ZEALAND | 92.68 |
| 2(2) | SOUTH AFRICA | 89.45 |
| 3(3) | AUSTRALIA | 85.86 |
4(5)Â  |
WALES | 81.90 |
5(4)  |
ARGENTINA | 81.56 |
| 6(6) | ENGLAND | 80.98 |
| 7(8)Â |
IRELAND | 79.25 |
| 8(7) |
FRANCE | 78.68 |
| 9(9) | SCOTLAND | 75.89 |
| 10(10) | FIJI | 75.24 |
