France could break the southern hemisphere stranglehold on the top three positions in the IRB World Rankings with a convincing victory over Wales in their RBS Six Nations encounter in Cardiff on Friday evening.
Les Bleus, who assumed the mantle of leading northern hemisphere nation by emphatically defeating Ireland 33-10 a fortnight ago, will climb above Australia by less than a tenth with a victory by more than 15 points at the Millennium Stadium.
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The last time France occupied such a lofty position was following their quarter-final defeat of New Zealand at Rugby World Cup 2007, with the big three southern hemisphere teams having occupied the top three spots since mid-2008.
France, who have won on four of their five visits to the Millennium Stadium in the Six Nations, can still hold on to fourth spot with defeat, providing that Ireland do not win at Twickenham or England triumph by more than 15 points.
An Ireland victory - their sixth in seven outings against England - will see them return to fourth spot, regardless of the winning margin. However, if Ireland win by more than 15 points they will close to within 0.51 rating points of the Wallabies.
By contrast another emphatic loss for Declan Kidney's men, allied with a similar defeat for France, will see Ireland slide another place to sixth with England assuming the mantle of leading northern hemisphere side in the rankings.
It is not all good news for England, though, as they could end the weekend as low as eighth if they lose by more than 15 points and Wales overcome France by the same margin. This would effectively see England and Wales swap places with the latter assuming sixth spot.
A loss by a smaller margin for England would still result in Wales rising to sixth with victory over France in only the second Six Nations match to be played on a Friday night, but Martin Johnson's side would slide only one place with Argentina doing the same to eighth.
Win vital for Italy to avoid fall
Argentina can, though, end the weekend with a one place climb to sixth if both England and Wales suffer defeats at home by more than 15 points. England would slide one place in this instance with Wales remaining eighth.
The weekend's other RBS Six Nations match sees Scotland travel to Rome to face Italy on Saturday. The Italians, buoyed by their performance against England last time out, will be looking to put Scotland to the sword for the fourth time at the Stadio Flaminio.
With more than three points separating the two sides in the IRB World Rankings, Italy cannot improve their ranking of 11th even with a winning margin greater than 15 points. An emphatic win would though bring the Azzurri to within three tenths of Scotland above them.
However, if Italy fail to add to their six wins since joining the Six Nations then they will fall one place with Samoa the beneficiaries, while Scotland swap places with Fiji to return to ninth. A heavy loss will see Italy slip to only two tenths above leading Asian side Japan.
This weekend also sees the Rugby World Cup qualifying process in Europe continue with matches in Georgia, Russia and Germany which can all impact the IRB World Rankings. Look out for a preview of these matches on Friday.
The European Nations Cup Division 3C match between Greece and Finland in Patras is the only fixture which will not effect the rankings. This is because Greece are not yet a Full Member Union of the International Rugby Board and therefore not ranked.
The IRB World Rankings update every Monday at 12:00 UK time.
