Joe Schmidt's Ireland will head to the World Cup as the world number one test side after a big second-half performance saw them beat Wales at the Aviva Stadium today.
The 19-10 win ensured Ireland do back-to-back victories over Warren Gatland's men after their humiliating Twickenham defeat to England last month.
The win sees Ireland move to top of the ranking for the first time since the new format was introduced in the early 00's.
A try from Rob Kearney in the first half got Ireland going, before tries from Tadhg Furlong and James Ryan after the break ensured Ireland outscored the visitors 12-0 in the second-half.
Schmidt's side overtake New Zealand, who defeated Tonga this morning by a whopping 85 points, but don't gain any ranking points due to the Tongan's lower world ranking.
Ireland travel to Japan shortly after winning three of the four warm-ups, building momentum after a wobbly Six Nations campaign earlier this year.
They face Scotland in their World Cup opener on September 22 before meeting Japan, Russia and Samoa in a bid to reach the World Cup quarter-final.
If you haven't already, be sure to like our Irish Mirror Sport and Irish Mirror GAA pages on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
