We are now over halfway through the Rugby World Cup pool stages. The world's biggest rugby competition has already thrown up a ton of brilliant tries, classic matches, and shock evictions.
There’s been a terrific resurgence from Six Nations sides England and Wales, as they stamp down their authority on a competition that gave them very little chance just four weeks ago. Fiji have become everybody’s favourite team with their wonderful style of rugby and a brilliant team display against Australia that inevitably led to their first victory over the Wallabies since 1954.
France and Ireland have stated their claims to be tournament favourites as they approach the knockout stage, with both sides displaying the kind of team cohesion that wins World Cups.
The mixture of quality performances, impressive wins and surprise results has created a major change in the world rankings. Australia have dropped down to the lowest place in their history, with the former two-time world champions finding themselves down in 10th place.
Australia play their final World Cup match against Portugal this weekend in a match that’s will be used purely to boost morale within the Australian camp. Portugal being only six places below them in the world rankings will not be an easy walk over, however. If such a loss to Portugal were to come to fruition it will spell serious trouble for Rugby Australia.
Elsewhere, there have been changes at the top of the table, with France overtaking the recently defeated South Africa in the rankings to take their place in second, behind tournament joint-favourites, Ireland.
Argentina, Italy and Japan have also edged their way up the table after recent wins, threatening to push the Wallabies even further down.
View the rankings here:
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