Ireland could knock Wales off the top spot of the world rankings this weekend if they beat the reigning Six Nations grand slam winners on Saturday.
The most remarkable part is that if Ireland win by a margin of 15 points or more, they will replace the Welsh as the world’s No 1 ranked team.
This is despite last weekend’s record 57-15
loss to England in Twickenham.
It is not only that result that would make
people question the possibility but the fact that the game was Ireland’s second
crushing at the hands of the English in 2019 as well as a humiliating loss to
Wales earlier in the year.
Those performances were the most noticeable
of what has been a disappointing year so far for the Irish, who also looked
flat during their opening World Cup warm-up game against Italy.
Many were angered by Wales claiming the top
spot two weeks’ ago after they defeated England, but if Ireland do beat an experimental
Welsh side this weekend there will surely be more outrage than before.
It is an interesting situation as nobody would
have argued Ireland topping the rankings had they done so last year when they
won the grand slam, won a series against the Australians and bet the All Blacks
but things have certainly been different this year.
Many have called for a change to the ranking
system and we could have more people joining those calls if Ireland do in fact
go top this Saturday.
