Coming into Saturday’s Six Nations conflict in Dublin, Ireland had been favourites to clinch victory at house, declare the event title and stay on observe for one more Grand Slam, however France had different concepts.
The French weathered an early storm, after which romped to an emphatic 42-27 win that may reverberate round world rugby, and places them in line to nearly definitely declare the Six Nations trophy.
There was rather a lot using on the sport on the Aviva Stadium, and if Ireland may have achieved a giant win in opposition to France, they may have even reduce the Springboks’ lead on the summit of the world rankings to simply 0.90 factors.
Instead, it was France who got here away with bragging rights, though they might have been upset to conceded two late tries that definitely flattered the ultimate scoreboard.
New Zealand at the moment are the closest facet to the Springboks within the rankings, however there’s a rating factors hole of two.42, whereas Ireland have fallen to 3rd, with France proper behind them in fourth.
CURRENT WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS AFTER FRANCE BEAT IRELAND:
| RANK | COUNTRY | POINTS |
| 1 | South Africa | 92.78 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 90.36 |
| 3 | Ireland | 89.71 |
| 4 | France | 89.51 |
| 5 | Argentina | 84.97 |
| 6 | England | 84.26 |
| 7 | Scotland | 82.36 |
| 8 | Australia | 81.52 |
| 9 | Fiji | 80.07 |
| 10 | Italy | 78.00 |
| 11 | Georgia | 74.69 |
| 12 | Wales | 73.75 |
| 13 | Japan | 72.95 |
| 14 | Samoa | 72.68 |
| 15 | USA | 70.02 |
| 16 | Portugal | 68.30 |
| 17 | Spain | 67.34 |
| 18 | Uruguay | 67.06 |
| 19 | Tonga | 65.46 |
| 20 | Romania | 62.76 |
SIX NATIONS 2025 FIXTURES
ROUND 4
Saturday, 8 March
Ireland vs France
Scotland vs Wales
Sunday, 9 March
England vs Italy
ROUND 5
Saturday, 15 March
Italy vs Ireland
Wales vs England
France vs Scotland
Permutation highlights:
- Scotland will fall under Australia if held to a draw at Murrayfield, a end result which might see Wales climb again above Georgia into eleventh place.
- A defeat by greater than 15 factors will see Scotland additionally fall under Fiji with a 3=place drop to tenth doable if the margin is by greater than 15 factors and Italy upset England at Allianz Stadium.
- Without this margin of defeat for Scotland, Italy can nonetheless enhance their place of tenth however it might require their first-ever win over England to be by greater than 15 factors. This state of affairs could be sufficient to carry the Azzurri above Fiji.
- England can solely achieve a most of 0,11 score factors for beating Italy so can not climb any increased than sixth place.
- However, defeat will see England fall under a victorious Scotland facet into seventh, with Australia additionally set to climb above them if the margin is by greater than 15 factors.
Ticket gross sales
Remember, if you wish to catch the Springboks tackle Argentina on this 12 months’s Rugby Championship in Twickenham, tickets at the moment are on sale!
Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster.co.uk and England Rugby, ranging from simply £55* for adults and £28* for Under-16s.
Hospitality packages are additionally accessible on www.allianzstadiumtwickenham.com
(*reserving charges apply)
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