Rugby:Ireland have slipped a further to places to eighth in the latest IRB world rankings following yesterday's 23-21 home defeat at the hands of Wales. With the seedings for the next World Cup to be determined by the rankings after the conclusion of this year's November test series, the current slide is a worrying one for the IRFU.
The teams ranked one to four will be top seeds in the 2015 tournament in England while those ranked fifth to eighth will act as second seeds. Should Ireland slip out of the top eight, they face the prospect of being grouped among the third seeded teams, an unpalatable scenario that would severely hinder hopes of progressing to the knockout stages.
While Ireland’s demise is a concern, Scotland’s latest defeat at the hands of England has seen Andy Robinson’s side drop out of the top 10 entirely with both Samoa and Tonga now ranked above the Scots. Wales’s win sees them move up to sixth, one spot behind England while France remain third behind Australia with world champions and runaway leaders New Zealand sitting on top of the pile.
