England's performance in the World Cup may have left supporters scratching their heads but it would seem there was some who were impressed by Martin Johnson's side. In the latest International Rugby Board world rankings England have moved up one place from sixth to fifth.

The vagaries of the IRB system would make Fifa proud but, despite not playing a game since the last weekly rankings were announced, England have moved ahead of the beaten semi-finalists Wales, who will play Australia in the World Cup third-fourth play-off on Friday.

France have been rewarded for their trip to Sunday's final by moving up two places to third, pushing the reigning world champions South Africa back to fourth place. It is the first time a northern hemisphere team has occupied a top three position in nearly 16 months when France briefly held third spot in June 2010. Ireland remain in seventh place while Scotland are 10th.

The IRB rankings are calculated using a "Points Exchange" system. Sides take points off each other based on the match result. Whatever one side gains, the other loses. The exchanges are based on the match result, the relative strength of each team and the margin of victory and points exchanges are doubled during the World Cup.

The latest IRB rankings (last week's position in brackets)

1 (1) New Zealand 91.34

2 (2) Australia 86.49

3 (5) France 84.79

4 (3) South Africa 84.34

5 (6) England 81.58

6 (4) Wales 81.10

7 (7) Ireland 80.65

8 (8) Argentina 80.28

9 (9) Tonga 76.63

10 (10) Scotland 76.20