• Cardiff winners will top rankings if All Blacks lose to Australia•
World Cup warm-ups ‘like poker’, says coach Scott Wisemantel
According 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.