France's emphatic 33-10 victory over defending RBS Six Nations champions Ireland at the Stade de France on Saturday has seen Les Bleus climb to fourth in the latest IRB World Rankings at their visitors' expense.
Tries from William Servat, Yannick Jauzion and Clément Poitrenaud - together with 15 points from the boot of Morgan Parra - ended Ireland's hopes of back to back Grand Slams and extended France's run to six straight home wins over Ireland.
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France are now the leading northern hemisphere nation in the rankings after returning to fourth for the first time in over two years and have opened up an advantage over Ireland of just over a rating point.
Les Bleus now trail third ranked Australia by a similar margin, while number one side New Zealand hold more than a seven point cushion over a nation they will face in the pool stages of Rugby World Cup 2011.
Ireland would have gone third with a first victory at the Stade de France since March 2000, but a first loss in 15 months means Declan Kidney's side now sit only 1.56 points above England after they edged Italy 17-12 in Rome on Sunday.
England needed a late drop goal by Jonny Wilkinson to finally see off the challenge of the spirited Italians at the Stadio Flaminio and remain sixth, while the defeat sees Italy slip to less than a tenth above 12th ranked Samoa.
The weekend's other Six Nations match did not have a positional impact on the IRB World Rankings after Wales played their get out of jail card with two tries in the last five minutes to beat Scotland 31-24 at the Millennium Stadium.
Shane Williams' injury-time try ensured that Wales remain eighth in the rankings, inching them closer to Argentina above and away from Fiji below. Scotland remain 10th with defeat and more than three points above their next hosts Italy.
Russia and Georgia on rise
The Six Nations was not the only competition in Europe to effect the IRB World Rankings over the weekend with Rugby World Cup 2011 qualifying matches taking place in Lisbon, Madrid and Constanta.
Georgia continue to lead the race to qualify for New Zealand 2011 after edging Portugal 16-10 in Lisbon, albeit only still by a single point from Russia who enjoyed a more comfortable 38-20 victory over Spain in Madrid.
Both nations have improved their IRB World Ranking by one place on the back of victory with Russia rising to 16th - equalling their highest ever standing - and Georgia to 17th with the USA Eagles sliding two places.
A sixth successive loss by more than 15 points at the hands of Russia has resulted in a one place fall for Spain to 23rd with Ged Glynn's side swapping places with Namibia again.
Portugal's second narrow loss in the space of eight days means they now sit five points adrift of the final direct RWC 2011 qualification place. The defeat leaves Portugal still 21st in the IRB World Rankings, albeit now slightly further behind Uruguay and closer to Namibia beneath them.
Romania enjoyed the most comprehensive victory of the six internationals in Europe with a 67-5 win over Germany in Constanta, the match having been moved from Bucharest because of the freezing conditions which forced the postponement of the Oaks' match with Spain last weekend.
The victory had no impact on the rankings with Romania's remaining 19th and Germany 26th. However, it has closed them to within two points of Portugal in the European Nations Cup third spot which will give its occupier another shot at qualifying for RWC 2011 through regional and cross-continental play-offs.
Romania also have a game in hand on Portugal with that postponement as they bid to preserve their ever-present RWC attendance record, although they do have the tougher climax to the European Nations Cup with trips to both Russia and Portugal, either side of a visit by the Georgians to Bucharest.
