The first thing they must do is complete a clean-sweep of their three summer tour games by winning the second Test against Argentina in Santa Fe. They won the first Test in San Juan 23-10 last weekend.
Australia are currently in third place and they face second place Ireland in the second of their three Tests. Reigning world champions New Zealand are still ranked at No 1.
Wales once reached the dizzy heights of second in the world in September, 2015, but weren’t able to stay there for long during the World Cup after losing to South Africa in the quarter-finals.
According to World Rugby, here are the permutations for the weekend:
Argentina (No 10) v Wales (No 5)
Wales are one of four teams who could, in theory, occupy third place by the end of the weekend. A second straight win over Los Pumas by a similar margin to last Saturday would see them pick up just over half a rating point. For Wales to reach the dizzy heights of third, though, they need to win by more than 15 points and hope that South Africa beat England and Ireland turn the tables on Australia. Los Pumas cannot slip outside the top 10 even if they are beaten badly.
Australia (No 3) v Ireland (No 2)
Australia will take second place off Ireland if they claim a 2-0 series lead. As many as one and three-quarters of a point are up for grabs for a big Irish win, which would cement Joe Schmidt’s side in second place.
South Africa (No 7) v England (No 4)
It is possible for both sides to climb up to third if they win. For that to happen, England need to beat the Springboks and hope Ireland also do the business against Australia. For South Africa, any form of win is guaranteed to lift them above England and Scotland and, with one and a quarter points up for grabs for a comprehensive victory, they could potentially leapfrog Wales and Australia too. A heavy defeat for England could drop them as low as sixth.
The South African prop Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira will become the latest player to reach 100 caps, while the Portugal second-row Goncalo Uva will join his brother, Vasco Uva, on 101 caps when he plays against Germany in a vital World Cup qualifying match.
Next year’s World Cup in Japan will also be uppermost in the mind of Namibian coach Phil Davies, who host Uganda in the Rugby Africa Gold Cup. Title holders for the last four years, the Namibians are looking to make it through to a sixth consecutive World Cup finals tournament.
While they host Uganda, Zimbabwe play host to Morocco. Kenya, champions in 2011 and 2013, are not in action until 23 June when they face a trip to Morocco.
The overall winner of the region’s elite-level competition earn direct qualification to RWC 2019 and will line up Pool B as Africa 1, while the runner-up will proceed to play a global repechage tournament later in the year against sides from the Americas (Canada), Europe and Asia/Oceania for the final slot in Japan.
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