The All Blacks are clinging on to their world No 1 rugby ranking but Ireland will have the chance to end New Zealand's remarkable reign during the next Six Nations.
New Zealand's 16‑9 loss to second‑placed Ireland saw the gap at the top of the rankings close from 3.46 points to just 1.37 points.
Ireland's win, their first against the All Blacks at home, earned them 1.05 points while the All Blacks came down from 93.58 to 92.54 points.
The All Blacks celebrated an incredible nine years at the top of the rankings on the eve of the Dublin test but now look very vulnerable.
While New Zealand will take a summer off, Ireland's defence of the Six Nations trophy gives them the chance to earn the necessary points to break through to No 1.
Ireland are the world's form team, winning 17 of their last 18 tests since March 2017, picking up nearly eight ranking points in that time.
Their latest defeat of the All Blacks was their eighth victory in their last 10 games against the four teams who reached the 2015 World Cup semifinals.
Since the first World Cup in 1987, only five countries — New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England and France ‑ have reached the final. In the last two years, Ireland have met those five teams 12 times and won 10 of the tests.
The latest rankings, released after another busy weekend in Europe, saw a couple of adjustments.
Australia’s 26‑7 win over Italy saw the Wallabies move up to sixth, above Scotland, who suffered a 26‑20 home defeat to South Africa. The Springboks remain in fifth place but are now just 0.42 of a point behind England.
Wales is third.
The Fiji Airways Flying Fijians who play France at 9.45am this Sunday remains 10th on the rankings.
[Source:Stuff.co.nz]
