By Brendan Cole
Ireland just missed out on taking third place in the IRB World Rankings due to the concession of a late try in Saturday's win over South Africa.
Joe Schmidt’s men were 29-15 winners over the world's number-two ranked side but substitute wing JP Pietersen’s 79th-minute score meant that the margin of victory dropped below 15 points.
As a result, instead of passing England and Australia and rising to third, Ireland remain in fifth place in the IRB list. Ireland have been ranked third on two previous occasions (2003 and 2006) but have never risen higher.
They were in danger of dropping out of the top eight as recently as November 2012 but a string of good results under Schmidt has boosted their stock significantly. The victory over South Africa was Ireland's fifth Test win in a row.
Ireland will have another opportunity to improve their position on Saturday week when they take on Michael Cheika’s Australia, currently ranked third in the world, at Aviva Stadium.
Elsewhere on the list, New Zealand bolstered their position as the number one side in the world with victory over England at Twickenham, while Japan became the world’s ninth-ranked side without playing a match after defeats to Samoa and Argentina saw that pair slide down the rankings.
