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Ireland’s November series clean sweep, coupled with Scotland’s win over Australia on Saturday, means Joe Schmidt’s side have climbed to third in the latest rugby world rankings, behind only New Zealand and England.
The Wallabies 24 point loss at Murrayfield meant they dropped 1.8 ranking points, slipping below Ireland into fourth, while Scotland closed the gap on South Africa in fifth.
The only other change in the top 10 sees France slip down to ninth after they drew 23-23- with Japan in Paris, while Argentina, despite their loss in Dublin, jumped above Les Bleus.
World rankings
1. (=) New Zealand – 93.992
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2. (=) England – 90.873
3. (+1) Ireland – 86.394
4. (-1) Australia – 85.495
5. (=) South Africa – 84.906
6. (=) Scotland – 84.117
7. (=) Wales – 80.988
8. (+1) Argentina – 78.229
9. (-1) France – 78.0910
10. (=) Fiji – 77.93
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