By Ouseburn 17/6/03 1630
June 20 2003

'ZURICH WORLD RANKINGS' - PRESS RELEASE England are gunning for their 13th straight Test win on Saturday as they take on Australia under the roof in Melbourne and should they win they are likely to remain as the top side in the Zurich World Rankings for the run-in to the Rugby World Cup

'ZURICH WORLD RANKINGS' - PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release: 17 June 2003 Issued on behalf of Zurich

England are gunning for their 13th straight Test win on Saturday as they take on Australia under the roof in Melbourne and should they win they are likely to remain as the top side in the Zurich World Rankings for the run-in to the Rugby World Cup.

The Zurich World Rankings are predicting England to come away with a 10 point win over the Wallabies on Saturday to record their first ever win on Australian soil.

However, such is the gap now between them and New Zealand in second that even should Clive Woodward's men lose the game they can still expect to hold on to their No.1 spot - at least until the Tri-Nations gets underway later in July.

Meanwhile, New Zealand will look to keep the pressure on England as they prepare to entertain Wales, the computer predicting a near-record win for the All Blacks over a struggling Wales side who are currently in their worst ever losing streak in international rugby.

Elsewhere, France need to bounce back from their upset defeat at the hands of Argentina last weekend with the rankings expecting them to see off Argentina in the Second Test and hold on to their fourth spot.

However, a win for Argentina would not only seal the series triumph but place the Pumas at all all-time high in the Zurich World Rankings in seventh.

The next full Zurich World Rankings update will follow on July 1.

'ZURICH WORLD RANKINGS' Predictions for June 18/19/20:

Canada (11) v United States (16) Canada by 28

Australia (3) v England (1) England by 10

New Zealand (2) v Wales (9) NZ by 44

Argentina (8) v France (4) France by 16