Ireland’s World Cup exit has seen them drop down from third to sixth in the world rankings.
Following some poor warm-up results, and Sunday’s defeat to Argentina in the quarter-final, Ireland have dropped down four places in all from their second placed ranking two months ago - with plenty of yo-yoing in between.
Following on from that 43-20 win in Cardiff, Argentina are the biggest climbers in Monday’s updated rankings, rising into the top four for the first time since 2009 - they slot into fourth place.
Wales are ahead of Ireland in fifth, with France, England and Scotland respectively, trailing Ireland in the rankings after an already hard weekend on the Northern hemisphere countries.
Japan, the first ever team to win three pool games and not emerge from their pool, remain in 10th place as the southern hemisphere teams dominate with the All Blacks in first, Australia in second and South Africa in third.
The semi-finals take place this weekend - South Africa take on New Zealand on Saturday while Argentina take on Australia on Sunday. Ireland will need to wait until the Six Nations in February and then the tour of South Africa to begin their rise back into the top five.
Meanwhile Argentina are holding out hope that captain Agustin Creevy can shake off a leg problem and be fit for Sunday’s World Cup semi-final with Australia.
Hooker Creevy will undergo consultation on an as-yet unidentified leg issue on Monday, with the 30-year-old central to the Pumas’ cause.
Julian Montoya replaced Creevy midway through the second half of Sunday’s 43-20 quarter-final victory over Ireland at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, and remains on stand-by to step in for the skipper.
The 21-year-old front-rower insisted he hopes his captain can fight back to fitness to start against the Wallabies, but is still ready for action if required.
“We’re all very hopeful that Gus will be okay and that he can make it,” said Montoya. He’s the captain, he’s an excellent player an excellent person, so he’s very influential.
“It was a dream for me, I never imagined some years ago playing in a World Cup, against Ireland at the Millennium,” said Montoya.
“It was amazing. We have our scrum technique, we’re working hard on that, but Ireland are one of the best packs in the world. I think we had a good scrum we put pressure on them, but they are still very strong, and it was a very tough challenge.
“Australia have improved so much in the scrum recently, so it’s going to be a really tough battle for us there. It will be a great competition there, it’s very exciting.”
