Ireland are now the 2nd best team in the world according to the World Rugby rankings, with newly-crowned Rugby Championship champions Australia moving up to 3rd.

According to World Rugby, Ireland have moved up to 2nd place in the World Rugby rankings for the 1st time since they were introduced in 2003.

Saturday’s 35 / 21 win over Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff earned them 1.13 ratings points, putting them a fraction ahead of Australia who jumped 2 places to 3rd on the back of their Rugby Champions / Bledisloe Cup triumph against the All Blacks on the weekend.

The Nic White-inspired Wallabies gained 1.61 points to move on to 86.84 points, 0.05 behind the Irish and 1.44 in front of England, the only Top 6 side not in action at the weekend, who remain in 4th spot.

For New Zealand it was their 1st defeat since they lost to South Africa a year ago and a disappointing way to mark Richie McCaw’s record-equalling 141st test appearance. It also saw their lead at the Top of the rankings cut to 5.83 points.

Meanwhile, hat-trick hero Juan Imhoff helped Argentina to an historic 37 / 25 win over South Africa at Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban and they a gain of 2 full rankings points. Los Pumas are now within touching distance of France in 7th place, the gap between the 2 nations now down to 0.57 of a point.

With a drop of 3 places from 2nd to 5th, South Africa were the weekend’s biggest losers from a rankings perspective. 3 Consecutive Rugby Championship defeats have seen their rankings points total reduced to 84.37 points – 1.43 more than 6th-placed Wales.

World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup 2015 champions Fiji are now ranked 9th following Monday’s 39 / 29 title-deciding win against Samoa, while Tonga move up into the top 10 as a result of their victory over Japan in the 3rd-place playoff, with Samoa falling to 11th.

Any gains Japan enjoyed this time last year, when a record 10-game winning streak briefly moved them into the Top 10, have largely been undone over the course of the last 12 months, as the Brave Blossoms now find themselves in 15th place in the rankings.

Japan are now just over 2 rankings points ahead of RWC 2015 Pool B opponents USA, whose 2nd straight win over North American rivals Canada in Monday’s 5th-place shootout earned them 1.06 points.

Canada remain in 18th with a 2.44 points cushion over Uruguay with Namibia making up the last member of the Top 20, after overhauling Spain thanks to Saturday’s 46 / 13 Africa Cup Division 1A victory against Kenya.

Darryl de La Harpe crossed for 2 of Namibia’s tries with their other 5-pointers coming via Chrysander Botha, David Philander, Renaldo Bothma and a penalty try.

“We have 3 wins on the trot now and that is very important for our confidence leading up to the Rugby World Cup. We are working very hard, finding our feet and I am happy with our progress,” said Welwitschias skipper Jacques Burger.

Top 10 in the World Rugby rankings:

1. New Zealand – 92.72
2. Ireland – 86.89
3. Australia – 86.84
4. England – 85.40
5. South Africa – 84.37
6. Wales – 82.94
7. France – 79.74
8. Argentina – 79.17
9. Fiji – 77.04
10. Tonga – 75.25