The Kiwis remain second in the world rankings despite losing to both Tonga and Fiji at the World Cup. Photo / Photosport.
The Kiwis remain second in the world rankings despite their shock Rugby League World Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of Fiji.
The Kiwis suffered consecutive home defeats to second-tier sides Tonga and Fiji to bow out of the World Cup but have managed to cling on to their ranking
as the second-best side in the world.
England outperformed New Zealand at the tournament, beating Tonga in the semi-final before losing the tournament final 6-0 to Australia to remain in third place.
New Zealand and England will meet in a three-test series in the UK at the end of next season which will likely determine which nation ends 2018 in second spot behind the world champion Kangaroos.
Tonga's reward for reaching the semi-finals is a move from 11th to fourth, while Lebanon are up to ninth from 18th and Papua New Guinea have risen six places to 10th after both sides made the last eight.
Scotland have slipped to seventh after failing to win a game down under and fellow home nations Ireland and Wales have both dropped out of the top 10.
Rugby League International Federation chief executive David Collier said: "On behalf of the RLIF board I would like to congratulate Australia on retaining their position and the other major movers, in particular Lebanon, Fiji, PNG and Tonga, who all lit up the World Cup.
"What we have seen is that the success of the World Cup has reinvigorated the international game, even more fixtures are being arranged across the tiers and that will have a reflection in future rankings as past results gradually degrade."
Tonga head coach Kristian Woolf does not want to have to wait until the 2021 World Cup to face the top sides again.
"The Mate Ma'a's move is just reward for a very strong year including a great World Cup campaign," he said.
"It is something we want to continue, with the opportunity to be involved in more international games in the future and the ability to compete against the top three nations."
Leading rankings: 1 Australia, 2 New Zealand, 3 England, 4 Tonga, 5 Fiji, 6 Samoa, 7 Scotland, 8 France, 9 Lebanon, 10 Papua New Guinea.
