Joe Schmidt played down expectations after Ireland's rise to 3rd in the world rankings. Ireland are expected to leapfrog both Australia and England when the IRB release their world rankings today.
Ireland will not gain any ranking points for their victory over Georgia on Sunday given their difference in the world rankings, but England's loss to South Africa, and Australia's loss to France should see them both dropping down below Ireland.
England performed badly at home to South Africa on Sunday, and their 28-31 defeat to the Springboks sees them lose between 0.5 and 1.0 ranking points. Australia's loss to an improving France by 3 points sees them lose between 1 and 1.5 ranking points. Australia had an advantage of 0.6 over Ireland, while England were .28 ahead of Ireland, and both should now be 4th and 5th.
| Last Week | This Week | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Country | Ranking Points | Country | Ranking Points |
| 1 | New Zealand | 93.70 | New Zealand | 93.70 |
| 2 | South Africa | 89.02 | South Africa | 89.93 (Taking +0.91) |
| 3 | Australia | 85.44 | Ireland | 84.84 |
| 4 | England | 85.12 | Australia | 84.22 (Taking -1.22) |
| 5 | Ireland | 84.84 | England | 84.21 (Taking -0.91) |
| 6 | France | 80.25 | France | 81.47 (Taking +1.22) |
Schmidt has called this a distraction for the Irish squad, and played down expectations. He cited the notion that Ireland have a history of failing to back up big performances, while also performing better as an underdog. Schmidt maintains that the squad will not think about being ranked as the Northern Hemisphere's best team and all focus is on the visit of Australia on Saturday.
Ireland have been ranked third twice since the ranking began, in 2003 and in 2006, but did not have as many ranking points on those occasions as they do now.
For those who want to know how the rankings are worked, here is an explanation into the madness.
