Wales have dropped to their joint lowest ever world ranking of 10th after being beaten at home by England in the Six Nations, the new World Rugby standings have confirmed.
And things could get even worse for Warren Gatland's side, with a defeat to Italy in a fortnight's time consigning them to their worst ever position outright of 11th.
If that wasn't enough for this winless Welsh team to worry about, if they were to lose by more than 15 points in Rome, they would drop to a catastrophic 13th place, below Samoa and Georgia. A victory for Wales will see them move back up to ninth.
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Wales have been as low as 10th in the world twice before, the first time coming after the 2007 Rugby World Cup, when they were sent crashing out of the tournament by Fiji, a result which saw Gareth Jenkins sacked as Wales coach and replaced by Gatland.
Five years later, with Gatland on Lions duty, Wales lost all four of their autumn internationals before being beaten by Ireland in their opening game of the 2013 Six Nations campaign. That result also saw them fall to 10th, but they ultimately recovered to win the Six Nations title that year under Rob Howley's leadership.
The latest standings come less than four years after Wales were ranked the best team in the world after they won the 2019 Grand Slam and went on to beat England in a summer World Cup warm-up match.
Elsewhere in the rankings, France's win over Scotland has moved them fractionally closer to number ones Ireland, who remain at the top of the table after beating Italy. But the next round could change it all for Les Bleus, as if they beat England and Ireland lose away to Scotland, they could leapfrog Andy Farrell's side to top the table. Lose, however, and they could to drop to fourth position, below New Zealand and South Africa, regardless of the result at Murrayfield.
Those fixtures could also change the fortunes of England and Scotland, with Steve Borthwick's men moving closer to their Six Nations rivals after outmuscling Wales in Cardiff. A win over France and anything less than a Scotland win against Ireland would send them back into the top five after dropping to sixth following their defeat in the Calcutta Cup in the first round of the championship.
New World Rugby rankings table
| 1 | Ireland | 91.33 | ||
| 2 | France | 89.47 | (+0.10) | |
| 3 | New Zealand | 88.98 | ||
| 4 | South Africa | 88.97 | ||
| 5 | Scotland | 83.26 | (-0.10) | |
| 6 | England | 83.11 | (+0.85) | |
| 7 | Australia | 81.80 | ||
| 8 | Argentina | 80.72 | ||
| 9 | (↑10) | Japan | 77.39 | |
| 10 | (↓9) | Wales | 76.88 | (-0.85) |
| 11 | Samoa | 76.03 | ||
| 12 | Georgia | 75.94 | ||
| 13 | Italy | 75.83 | ||
| 14 | Fiji | 74.84 | ||
| 15 | Tonga | 71.21 | ||
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