Boks tumble down in rankings

Auckland - France's achievement in reaching the Rugby World Cup final has seen them rise to third place in the latest edition of the International Rugby Board (IRB) world rankings published Tuesday.

Their nailbiting 9-8 semi-final win over 14-man Wales here on Saturday took the French above both the Welsh and defending champions South Africa, with the Springboks dropping out of the top three for the first time since the start of the 2007 World Cup.

New Zealand, France's opponents in Sunday's World Cup final, remained top of the standings following a 20-6 semi-final win over Australia last weekend that still left the Wallabies in second place.

IRB World Rankings (position, (position last week), country, rating points):

1 (1) New Zealand 91.34

2 (2) Australia 86.49

3 (5) France 84.79

4 (3) South Africa 84.34

5 (6) England 81.58

6 (4) Wales 81.10

7 (7) Ireland 80.65

8 (8) Argentina 80.28

9 (9) Tonga 76.63

10 (10) Scotland 76.20