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Spain climb to new high in rankings

(IRB.COM) Monday 13 February 2012
 Spain climb to new high in rankingsSpain turned the tables on Georgia in Madrid – Photo: FER

Spain have climbed into the top 20 of the IRB World Rankings for the first time after handing defending champions Georgia their first defeat of the European Nations Cup 2012, the home side winning 25-18 in Madrid on Saturday.

The victory was in stark contrast to Georgia’s emphatic 60-0 win a year earlier, the Lelos ultimately coming up short as they tried to fight back from a 25-8 defeat after César Sempere crossed for his second try of the match within six minutes of the restart.

Spain’s victory lifts them above Uruguay, Namibia and Russia into 19th position, two places better than their previous high which they occupied between August 2007 and March 2009. The defeat also sees Georgia fall one to 15th, swapping places with Japan.

Namibia are the biggest fallers of the last seven days, slipping two places to 21st as a consequence of the Spanish victory and Russia’s tight 33-32 win over Portugal in Lisbon. A Russian victory was guaranteed to lift them above Namibia, but Spain’s upset win means they remain 20th.

The narrow loss on home soil has not affected Portugal’s ranking of 24th, although a second defeat in as many weeks – they lost 15-7 to Romania last weekend – means they have slipped further away from Chile above them and closer to Belgium below.

The weekend’s other scheduled Division 1A encounter between Romania and Ukraine was postponed on Friday due to the weather, a fate which also claimed the RBS Six Nations match involving France and Ireland at the Stade de France just before kick-off.

England and Wales both improved their ratings with victories over Italy and Scotland respectively, but not enough to improve their positions of fifth and sixth, the English in fact increasing their cushion slightly by virtue of winning 19-15 on the road in Rome.

Stuart Lancaster’s men have now closed the deficit to South Africa in fourth to 1.53 points, inching closer to a place in what will be the top band of seeds for the Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool Allocation Draw in December.

Leigh Halfpenny was the star of Wales’ 27-13 win over Scotland with two tries in his 22-point haul, but his one missed kick meant that they failed to maximise their potential gain in the rankings, winning by less than 15 points.

Scotland and Italy remain 11th and 12th after suffering their second defeats of the Championship, the Scots grateful that Tobias Botes squandered two kickable penalties that could have given Italy a first ever win over England and condemned Scotland to their lowest ever spot in the IRB World Rankings.

IRB World Rankings – 13  February  2012
Position (last week) Member Union Rating Point
1(1) NZLNEW ZEALAND 91.43
2(2) AUSAUSTRALIA 87.99
3(3) FRAFRANCE 84.70
4(4) RSASOUTH AFRICA 84.34
5(5) ENGENGLAND 82.81
6(6) WALWALES 81.15
7(7) ARGARGENTINA 80.28
8(8) IREIRELAND 79.25
9(9) TGATONGA 76.63
10(10) SAMSAMOA 75.81
11(11) SCOSCOTLAND 75.30
12(12) ITAITALY 73.53
13(13) CANCANADA 72.92
14(15)  JPNJAPAN 70.45
15(14) GEOGEORGIA 69.32
16(16) FJIFIJI 68.78
17(17) USAUSA 65.63
18(18) ROMROMANIA 64.21
19(22)  ESPSPAIN 62.10
20(20) RUSRUSSIA 61.69
21(19) NAMNAMIBIA 61.24
22(21) URUURUGUAY 60.47
23(23) CHLCHL 59.52
24(24) PORPORTUGAL 57.91
25(25) BELBELGIUM 57.02
26(26) HKGHONG KONG 56.51
27(27) MARMOROCCO 56.13
28(28) MDAMOLDOVA 54.94
29(29) POLPOLAND 54.80
30(30) KAZKAZAKHSTAN 53.62
31(31) KORKOREA 53.36
32(32) UKRUKRAINE 53.22
33(33) ZIMZIMBABWE 52.40
34(34) BRABRAZIL 51.57
35(35) SWESWEDEN 51.46
36(36) GERGERMANY 51.46
37(37) CZECZECH REPUBLIC 51.46
38(38) TUNTUNISIA 51.34
39(39) KENKENYA 50.49
40(40) LTULITHUANIA 50.01
41(41) PARPARAGUAY 48.84
42(42) MLTMALTA 47.93
43(43) UGAUGANDA 47.69
44(44) CIVIVORY COAST 47.52
45(45) NEDNETHERLANDS 47.10
46(46) SRISRI LANKA 47.03
47(47) PNGPAPUA NEW GUINEA 46.55
48(48) BERBERMUDA 45.94
49(49) SUISWITZERLAND 45.88
50(50) TRITRINIDAD & TOBAGO 45.85
51(51) CROCROATIA 45.84
52(52) SINSINGAPORE 45.66
53(53) VENVENEZUELA 45.36
54(54) SENSENEGAL 45.24
55(55) COKCOOK ISLANDS 44.61
56(56) MADMADAGASCAR 44.31
57(57) TPECHINESE TAIPEI 43.62
58(58) ANDANDORRA 42.56
59(59) GUYGUYANA 42.54
60(60) DENDENMARK 42.04
61(61) ISRISRAEL 42.02
62(62) CHNCHINA 41.78
63(63) MASMALAYSIA 41.75
64(64) PERPERU 41.64
65(65) THATHAILAND 41.46
66(66) SRBSERBIA 41.31
67(67) CAYCAYMAN 41.23
68(68) LATLATVIA 40.72
69(69) SOLSOLOMON ISLANDS 40.70
70(70) NIUNIUE ISLANDS 40.45
71(71) ZAMZAMBIA 39.94
72(72) COLCOLOMBIA 39.59
73(73) SVGST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES 39.30
74(74) INDINDIA 39.19
75(75) BRBBARBADOS 39.13
76(76) CAMCAMEROON 38.33
77(77) SVNSLOVENIA 38.30
78(78) AUTAUSTRIA 38.15
79(79) HUNHUNGARY 37.50
80(80) BULBULGARIA 37.36
81(81) SWZSWAZILAND 36.68
82(82) BWABOTSWANA 36.68
83(83) JAMJAMAICA 36.35
84(84) BHSBAHAMAS 36.33
85(85) PYFTAHITI 36.25
86(86) GUMGUAM 36.24
87(87) BIHBOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 36.18
88(88) NGANIGERIA 35.29
89(89) MONMONACO 35.17
90(90) NORNORWAY 34.81
91(91) VANVANUATU 33.45
92(92) LUXLUXEMBOURG 32.26
93(93) FINFINLAND 27.70

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