Defeat to Australia at the Rugby World Cup sees England drop to eighth place in the latest World Rugby rankings, their joint lowest position ever.

The hosts slip below Argentina, who moved up after thrashing Tonga on Sunday, while Australia, South Africa and France all moved up a place into second, fourth and sixth respectively. England last occupied eighth position back in 2009.

Samoa were the other big fallers, dropping to 15th – also their lowest ever ranking – after defeat to Japan on Saturday afternoon.

With a ranking of 79.77, England sit a full ten points behind Saturday’s opponents Australia and just over two points ahead of Six Nations rivals Scotland, who occupy ninth place.

England’s final opponents in their home World Cup sit 11 places below them in the rankings. Uruguay’s team of mostly amateur players sit in 19th, one place and less than half a point above the tournament’s lowest ranked side, Namibia.

Japan, Italy, Tonga and Georgia all move up one place, with the Brave Blossoms sitting just shy of the world’s top ten.

World Rugby rankings
1. New Zealand
2. Australia
3. Wales
4. South Africa
5. Ireland
6. France
7. Argentina
8. England
9. Scotland
10. Fiji
11. Japan
12. Tonga
13. Italy
14. Georgia
15. Samoa
16. USA
17. Romania
18. Canada
19. Uruguay
20. Namibia