A titanic clash against the All Blacks next week at the Aviva Stadium won't have the added caveat of a World Ranking shake-up on the line after New Zealand escaped by the skin of their teeth against England on Saturday.
Ireland had achieved a remarkable new high with a plus 90 points total after they swept their USA 2017 summer tour, won a Grand Slam and claimed a series victory over Australia. However, New Zealand's only blip came with their 36-34 loss against South Africa and the fact that did lose yesterday means the differential will be too much to make up with one victory.
If Ireland were to claim a marginal victory over the top dogs, they could move to 91.17, while New Zealand would then be left with a total of 92.54. While highly improbable, if Ireland were to claim a substantial victory, it would still not be enough with the estimated world ranking totals at 92.01 and 91.69.
The All Blacks have been the world's number one ranked team since November 16th, 2009 when they overtook South Africa.
Updated World Rankings for results. Plenty of scope for further movement in the later matches.
New Zealand's win means they cannot be caught by Ireland, even if Ireland win by 15+.#rugby #rugbyunited #rankings #ENGvNZ #SCOVFIJ @RugbyLAD7 @RugbySco pic.twitter.com/SkQ2wBkj8d— Rugby4Cast (@Rugby4Cast) November 10, 2018
Possible top three, If Ireland can win versus New Zealand and South Africa record a convincing win over Scotland and a marginal win over Wales.
However, Joe Schmidt can be content in the knowledge their total ensures they will not drop to third in the event of a loss. Ireland's working ranking position looks set to remain second.
In terms of squad availability for next week, Sean O'Brien is set to miss out with a suspected broken arm while Rob Kearney is also likely to be unavailable. Schmidt confirmed he will speak to Conor Murray during the week to assess whether he may return to play a part.
