Another milestone surpassed.
Just a fortnight ago, Australia were breathing down Ireland’s necks for second in the World Rugby rankings.
Having defeated Ireland in the opening game of their three-Test series, the Wallabies were on the brink of leapfrogging Joe Schmidt’s men. The real threat to the All Blacks, claimed Gregor Paul in the New Zealand Herald, were Michael Cheika’s Aussies.
Ireland got their groove back in Melbourne and clinched the series in Sydney, and picked up some handy rankings points in the process. The Australians are now back in 5th.
Having swept the 2017 summer tours (USA and Japan), the November internationals, claimed a Grand Slam and defeated the Australians 2-1, Ireland have now surpassed their highest ever rankings total.
Their previous best was 89.20 (up from 89.11 reached last March) but Ireland have now breached the 90-point mark.
Ireland are now at 90.12 and within three points of world champions New Zealand, who will go into The Rugby Championship this August off the back of a 3-0 series sweep of France. Playing at home against the 8th ranked French did nothing for the AB’s already huge points total of 93.99.
Schmidt’s men will face Italy, in Chicago, at Argentina at the Aviva Stadium before they take on New Zealand at the same ground on November 17. As Ireland are ranked so much higher than Italy and Argentina, two more victories are unlikely to eat into the lead of Steve Hansen’s side.
An Irish victory over New Zealand – only their second ever – would mean a substantial points turnaround of 3.10.
That would not be enough to gain top spot but Ireland winning by 7+ points would see them pick up 2.55 points and New Zealand drop 1.63.
It may be wishful thinking, and there are more games to be played before both nations meet in Dublin, but a solid Irish victory could see them top the rankings for the first time in their history.
