Crunch Time

Wednesday 27 June 2012

After initially rising to 4th place, Wales have now slipped behind England and France to 6th place in the latest IRB World Rankings as a result of their 3-0 series defeat to Australia in June. Despite losing 25-23 in the 2nd test, Wales climbed above England into the all important 4th spot in the rankings but the 20-19 defeat in the 3rd test in Sydney saw Wales slip back behind Stuart Lancaster's side after they secured a 14-14 draw in their 3rd and final test against South Africa. Warren Gatland's men have also fallen behind World Cup runners-up France who now occupy the 5th spot.

Wales' position in the rankings is crucial this year with the 2015 World Cup draw being made after the autumn series. The top four sides, which are currently New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England, will all be seeded for the 2015 tournament and therefore avoid each other in the Pool stage of the competition.

This has made Wales' autumn internationals all the more important as they will be the next and only chance for them to improve on their position in the World Rankings ahead of the World Cup draw.

Gatland's side will be hosting four sides from the Southern hemisphere at the Millennium Stadium in their autumn internationals. Argentina, Samoa and New Zealand will all play the 2012 Grand Slam winners in November with the final match of the series coming against Robbie Deans' Australia on the first day of December where Wales will be desperate to take revenge over the Wallabies after their recent 3-0 series defeat Down Under.

Wales will know that the best way to secure a top four place will be to beat one or both of the Tri-Nations giants in either New Zealand or Australia but this is a task that has been notoriously difficult for the Welsh in recent years as the summer tour of Australia proved.

There is no doubt that Wales are closing the gap on the sides above them but they still need to take that one final step of getting a tick in the win column against one of the Southern hemisphere giants.

The Welsh fans can be confident ahead of the four matches later this year as only 0.83 of a point separates England, France and Wales in the rankings.

On the pitch Wales can have even more grounds for optimism as Cardiff Blues centre Jamie Roberts has announced that he is hoping to be fit for the series after having knee surgery. The 25 year old should return for the Blues in September and he is likely to return to partner Scarlets centre Jonathan Davies for Wales in November.

The competition for places in the Welsh squad is also greater than ever, the centre position being a prime example of this after the performances of Scott Williams and Ashley Beck against the Wallabies.

But the autumn series will be the crunch period for Wales as they aim to claim a big scalp against either the All Blacks or Australia and hope that they can climb back into the top four just in time for the 2015 World Cup draw.