France move into world's top three

France moved past the Wallabies after beating them 26-16 in Marseille at the weekend.

New Zealand's 41-3 win over Wales in Cardiff sees them extend their lead at the top of the rankings.

Wales's loss by more than 16 points also see them drop one place to sixth, behind England.

South Africa's victory over Argentina in Buenos Aires keeps them in second, although neither team gained or lost any ranking points.

The Czech Republic move up two to 23rd after their impressive 47-8 away win over Ukraine.

The biggest risers of the week are Sweden and Malta, who both move up five places. Sweden are in 52nd, following their 16-14 victory over Scandinavian rivals Denmark. Denmark, who were 45th before kick-off, drop five to 50th.

Malta, meanwhile, recovered from a home defeat against Germany last weekend to defeat Serbia & Montenegro away in their latest Rugby World Cup 2007 qualifier. They are now in 53rd.

The current Top 50 on the official IRB Rankings (last week's ranking in brackets):
1 (1) New Zealand 92.57
2 (2) South Africa 88.99
3 (4) France 84.90
4 (3) Australia 84.08
5 (6) England 82.81
6 (5) Wales 82.46
7 (7) Ireland 82.14
8 (8) Argentina 75.66
9 (9) Scotland 74.20
10 (10) Fiji 73.47
11 (11) Italy 72.78
12 (12) Samoa 71.52
13 (13) Canada 68.42
14 (14) USA 68.31
15 (15) Uruguay 67.11
16 (16) Japan 65.93
17 (17) Portugal 65.57
18 (18) Romania 65.48
19 (19) Georgia 63.38
20 (20) Tonga 62.04
21 (21) Morocco 61.51
22 (22) Korea 60.44
23 (25) Czech Republic 60.18
24 (23) Chile 59.85
25 (24) Namibia 58.52
26 (26) Russia 57.85
27 (27) Germany 55.60
28 (29) Hong Kong 54.08
29 (30) Spain 53.86
30 (31) Paraguay 53.63
31 (32) Netherlands 53.11
32 (28) Ukraine 53.08
33 (33) Poland 52.70
34 (34) Tunisia 51.32
35 (35) Brazil 50.98
36 (36) Croatia 50.87
37 (37) Belgium 50.84
38 (38) China 49.73
39 (39) Kenya 48.97
40 (40) Switzerland 48.70
41 (41) Ivory Coast 48.57
42 (42) Chinese Taipei 48.28
43 (43) Madagascar 47.70
44 (44) Moldova 47.57
45 (46) Arabian Gulf 47.37
46 (47) Zimbabwe 47.32
47 (48) Kazakhstan 47.06
48 (49) Sri Lanka 46.79
49 (50) Singapore 46.70
50 (45) Denmark 46.41

Australia and Wales drop down the rankings

France have broken the Southern Hemisphere stranglehold on the top three positions on the official International Rugby Board (IRB) world rankings, when they overtook Australia in third place on Monday.