New World Rugby rankings table sees Wales rise and England drop despite result

Wales have risen in the World Rugby rankings and England have dropped, despite the result at Twickenham on Saturday.

Scotland's heavy home defeat to France meant they dropped more rankings points than Wales, who were narrowly defeated on the road 23-19. That saw Wales jump above them into seventh, with the Scots now eighth.

Likewise, because France's convincing 36-17 win was achieved away from home and by a margin of more than 15 points, they saw a huge increase in rankings points put them above England as officially the third best team in the world.

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World champions South Africa still lead the way, with New Zealand second.

If France manage to post another win of more than 15 points against Wales in Cardiff on March 11, they will move above the All Blacks.

And, if Wales pull off a victory by the same margin, they can leapfrog Australia into sixth.

Further down the table, Spain are now just ranked one place below Italy in 15th after they beat Romania 38-21.