England and Wales could battle it out to become world leaders
(The Guardian Sports News)

o Cardiff winners will top rankings if All Blacks lose to Australiao World Cup warm-ups `like poker´, says coach Scott WisemantelAccording to the number-crunching boffins who compile World Rugby´s rankings this could be the most significant weekend for a decade. Should Australia beat New Zealand for the second consecutive weekend the winner of the match between Wales and England in Cardiff is poised to take over as the world´s top side just over a month before the World Cup kicks off in Japan.Within England´s camp, however, no one is getting too excited. Players and coaches alike would prefer to be handed a shiny trophy in Yokohama in early November rather than a computer printout on Monday lunchtime and the management also believe several of their rivals are increasingly engaged in an elaborate game of tactical poker. Continue reading...