Ireland remain in the top-four of rugby's World Rankings, despite Friday's loss to Wales in Cardiff.

The World Rankings have come into sharp focus in the Six Nations, due to their proximity to the 2019 Rugby World Cup draw. The Six Nations will be the last major tournament played before the draw takes place.

The top-four teams in the World Rankings will be the tournament's top seeds, with those ranked 5-8 taking the second seeding. 12 teams qualify automatically for the tournament, and the remaining four sides who finished in the top-three in their 2015 World Cup pool will be the third seeds.

Despite keeping their fourth-place, Ireland lost a full point in the rankings with both Scotland and Wales now in touching distance of leap-frogging Joe Schmidt's side in the final round of Six Nations matches.

Ireland must beat England in Dublin to guarantee their fourth-place ranking. A loss to Eddie Jones' side means the team must hope that France beat Wales next weekend in Paris.

Despite only entering the top-four during November's Autumn Internationals, Ireland have held onto their position in the top-four throughout the tournament.

France currently lie in eighth place, and could fall into the third seeds, if they lose to Wales this weekend. As it stands the third seeds will be Georgia, Japan, Italy and either France or Argentina.