England could rise as high as third in the World Rugby rankings this weekend as they face Italy, having fallen below Ireland after last week's matches.
We have calculated that a win over Italy in the Six Nations combined with a narrow Irish defeat in Paris could result in Eddie Jones' side leapfrogging Ireland with France rising to fourth.
Currently England are fourth, and based on betting handicaps we calculate that they will gain no points with a 15 point win over Italy.
However, if a five point win for France occurs in Paris then Ireland will fall below both teams due to the higher respective weights their current rankings provide for the game, moving England up into third behind South Africa (1st) & New Zealand (2nd).
The lower ranked game of Saturday takes place between Wales and Scotland with the Welsh currently holding a two point handicap, meaning that a Wales win would see Scotland fall below Australia into seventh with Wayne Pivac's side remaining eighth.
Should England beat Italy but Ireland and Scotland win by the same margins then Scotland could move above France in what would be a huge psychological blow for Fabien Galthie's side.
Italy are set to remain in 14th place regardless of the weekend's events and would stay behind Georgia in the world rankings as rumours persist as to their long-term future in the Championship should results remain poor.
