Rise up ladder means easier World Cup
ENGLAND’s Grand Slam triumph has seen them leapfrog Wales into fourth place in the official world rankings, while improving their chances of avoiding another ‘pool of death’ at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Eddie Jones’s men began the Six Nations in eighth place in the rankings after last year’s disastrous World Cup campaign under former coach Stuart Lancaster, which saw them crash out after pool defeats against Wales and Australia. With the draw for the 2019 tournament in Japan likely to be made in June next year, it is England’s in interests to climb as high up the rankings as possible by then. A poor Six Nations could have seen England drop out of the top 10 for the first time in the professional era. If that had happened, they would have been in danger of yet another ‘pool of death’ as a third-tier nation.
But five straight wins in Jones’s first five games in charge has left them ranked as the highest northern hemisphere nation, with only New Zealand, Australia and South Africa above them. Jones stipulated when he took over from Lancaster he wanted England to become ‘the most dominant team in Europe’ before they could start challenging the southern hemisphere’s best.
England face Australia in a three-Test series this summer where an unlikely victory could see them push further up rankings.
FORMER England flyhalf Andy Goode, 35, has announced he will retire for a second time when his short-term contract at Newcastle expires next week. Goode briefly quit playing through injury in September.