Wales have climbed to number one in the World Rugby Rankings for the first time since they were introduced in October 2003 after their win over England ended New Zealand’s 509 consecutive weeks on top.
After nearly 10 years at the top, New Zealand’s reign as the number one team in the World Rugby Rankings is over.
Even though the All Blacks retained the Bledisloe Cup with a magnificent 36-0 victory against Australia at Eden Park in Auckland, Wales knew any form of victory against England at the Principality Stadium in the later of the two kick-offs would see them overtake the world champions.
The result was in the balance right until the very end, but Wales held on to win 13-6, George North scoring the only try of the game after collecting a perfectly weighted cross-field kick from man-of-the-match Dan Biggar.
England were kept pointless in the first half for the first time since they trailed France 16-0 in the Rugby World Cup 2011 quarter-final, but second-half pressure brought them two George Ford penalties.
With Wales’ rating now increasing to 89.43 rating points, three-hundredths of a point separates the Six Nations Grand Slam winners from New Zealand.
Wales are only the fourth team to occupy the number one ranking, after England, New Zealand – for 88.29 per cent of the time – and South Africa.
Fiji remains at 10th place with a rating of 76.98, The All Blacks drop to the second place while Ireland are placed third.
