World Rugby Rankings: Italy rises to No 8 following Wales victory

Italy have matched their previous all-time best of eighth in the World Rugby rankings following their 24-21 Six Nations win over Wales in Cardiff over the weekend.

The Azzurri last achieved eighth place in August 2007.

They have previously only held the position three times and for a total of just four weeks.

It was a result that also helped lift Italy above Wales in the rankings for the first time since February 2013.

Given that neither side are scheduled to play again until July, it’s guaranteed that the status quo will remain as is for the next four months.

WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS: SPRINGBOKS WILL START THEIR YEAR AGAINST WALES

Wales, on the other hand, have slipped to a record-equalling World Rugby rankings low of 10th having lost the most points (3.38 points) over the last seven weeks.

The Springboks’ first Test of the year will be against Wales at Twickenham in London on Saturday, 22 June.

Based on current form, the Welsh would have to improved dramatically in the coming months to trouble Rassie Erasmus’s side, even if the world champion Springboks have to field a weakened team due to the fixture falling outside of the international Test window.

Meanwhile, Six Nations champions Ireland, who secured their second straight title with a hard-fought 17-13 win over Scotland, started the year in second place behind the Springboks and have remained there ever since, albeit with a fractionally higher rating of 90.69 points – a gain of just 0.12 points.

Ireland still trail South Africa by 3.85 points, but can claw back further ground if they do well in the two July Tests against the world champions, at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria (6 July) and Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban (13 July).

England, meanwhile, looked all set to beat France and replace them in fourth in the rankings as they led a thrilling final match of the tournament in Lyon.

However, Thomas Ramos nailed a very late penalty from just shy of halfway to hand Les Bleus a 33-31 win and second place in the Six Nations standings.