British & Irish Lions
• British & Irish Lions tour Australia in 2013
Ireland Rugby
Irish ranked fourth in the world
There is no denying that the Irish rugby team is having a spectacular season as they work towards the hope of winning the Grand Slam this year. Their victory over Scotland means that they are keeping this dream alive and there was additional fuel to the flame of desire this week when it was announced that they have risen in the IRB world rankings.
This week it was announced that Ireland is now ranked fourth in the world behind New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. This is due to the continued improvement in the Irish side and there are obviously hopes that if the country manages to win the Grand Slam, that it will rise in rankings as well.
IRB WORLD RANKINGS (As of Monday, March 16):
1(1) NEW ZEALAND 92.68 rating points
2(2) SOUTH AFRICA 89.45
3(3) AUSTRALIA 85.86
4(6) IRELAND 81.98
5(5) WALES 81.88
6(4) ARGENTINA 81.56
7(8) ENGLAND 80.80
8(7) FRANCE 79.02
9(9) SCOTLAND 75.39
10(10) FIJI 75.24
11(11) SAMOA 72.57
12(12) ITALY 72.15
13(13) TONGA 70.05
14(14) GEORGIA 69.66
15(15) CANADA 69.12
16(16) JAPAN 68.05
17(17) RUSSIA 66.91
18(18) ROMANIA 66.15
19(19) USA 63.55
20(20) URUGUAY 62.78