Ireland and Italy rise in rankings

The return of the Six Nations also sees the return of the ScrumQueens Rankings, produced for us by Serge Piquet ().

After three rounds of the Six Nations, and a small number of other games that the table takes into account, there has been some movement since the last table appeared in December.

Despite losing at Twickenham, Ireland have overtaken the United States to slip into fifth place, while Italy, also on the back of two Six Nations wins, slip above Wales into seventh ?? but by the smallest of margins.

Both Italy and Wales have yet to play England, but with?˜Wales still to play Scotland in this year's?˜championship and?˜Italy have to travel to Ireland, there is every chance that the positions will be reversed by the end of next month.

England have extended their lead at the top of the table?˜and France have significantly closed the gap on New Zealand, both aided by having been much more active over the past year than the Black Ferns.

It is for this reason that Australia continue to slip in the rankings ?? it being nearly four years since their last test match. Once the Australians return to test rugby (which they are due to do later this year on a tour to New Zealand) it is very likely that they will prove to be significantly stronger than their twelfth place might suggest, but with no international rugby of any sort (not including sevens) it would be difficult for any system to produce a realistic ranking.

When comparing teams in the rankings, the points totals are as important as relative ranking positions. So, for example, the top three teams (England, New Zealand and France) are far closer to each other than they are to those in 4th, 5th and 6th (Canada Ireland and the USA). There is then another significant gap before Italy and Wales, who are both significantly ahead of Spain, Scotland and South Africa.

???˜ Serge PIQUET -?˜F??vrier 2014 /?˜February 2014