Disastrous Six Nations campaign sees Ireland drop to lowest-ever world ranking
A disastrous RBS Six Nations campaign has seen Ireland drop to their lowest ever IRB World Ranking as Declan Kidney’s men fell to ninth in the world.
Ireland’s injury-plagued tournament came to bleak end on Saturday when they suffered their first Six Nations defeat to Italy, leaving them in fifth place at the end of campaign which promised much after victory over Wales in Round 1.
Jonny Sexton, Gordon D’Arcy, Stephen Ferris, Tommy Bowe and Paul O’Connell are just some of the big names Ireland had to cope without during their worst ever Six Nations.
Both Soma (7th) and Argentina (8th) have overtaken Ireland whose previous lowest ranking was eighth.
None of the other five nations shifted places on the rankings after the Championship but the 30-3 win for Wales (5th) over England (4th) saw them close the gap on Stuart Lancaster’s men to just 0.36 rating points.
The drop in rankings comes at a time when Declan Kidney’s future as Ireland head coach comes under the microscope with the Corkman due to meet with the IRFU’s National Team Review Group this week.
Kidney admitted he would have to think about whether he wanted a new contract after the defeat in Rome.
