Ireland have dropped to fourth in the World Rugby rankings following their shock defeat by Japan, while Wales rose to second after their win over Australia.

Before the second round of World Cup pool matches, Wales trailed Ireland by 2.61 rating points.

But Ireland’s humiliating 19-12 loss against hosts Japan have had them drop two places from second to fourth, below England – who remain in third position – and Wales, who climb two spots from fourth to second courtesy of their riveting 29-25 win against the Wallabies.

Australia are still sixth, but were docked 1.55 points and Japan move up from ninth to eighth.

Meanwhile, the top-ranked All Blacks and fifth-placed Springboks’ ratings remain unchanged.

Further down, Argentina return to the top 10 at the expense of Fiji.

World Rugby rankings:

1. New Zealand 90.98
2. Wales 88.87
3. England 88.13
4. Ireland 85.93
5. South Africa 85.75
6. Australia 83.52
7. France 81.04
8. Japan 80.70
9. Scotland 80.54
10. Argentina 76.79

Full rankings
How the rankings work

Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images