Russia are one place away from a return to the world's top 20 for the first time since July after a 23-12 victory over Portugal in the opening round of the HKRU Cup of Nations saw them move up one place to 21st in the World Rugby Rankings.
They move above Spain, after a gain of nearly half a point took them to 61.56 points, while Hong Kong, who kicked off their campaign on a winning note against Zimbabwe, also climb one place to 23rd, swapping places with Chile.
Zimbabwe tumble three places to 29th in defeat with Kenya, Ukraine and Belgium the beneficiaries. Portugal are now one place below them in 30th.
In Europe, Poland were rewarded for their 18-14 win at home to Moldova in the European Nations Cup Division 1B with a gain of 1.05 points – enough to lift them above Switzerland and into 34th place in the rankings - despite the Swiss overcoming Israel 28-3 in Division 2A. That game against bottom-of-the-table Israel did not result in any rating point gains for Switzerland due to there being more than 20 places between the nations in the rankings.
In the other match in Division 2A, Croatia’s current run of good form took them past Malta 34-27, and up to 48th in the rankings.
The Scandanavian derby in Division 2C ended in a 21-16 home win for Sweden over a Denmark side who gave a really good account of themselves considering the 31-place gap between the nations in the rankings. Sweden remain 54th and Denmark 85th.
Luxembourg’s 30-24 success against Serbia extended their winning run in Division 2C to six matches. They remain in 62nd place, after a gain of just 0.05 of a point. Serbia stay 81st.
With two wins in the last four days, and another South American B Championship title in the bag, Colombia’s ranking has improved by three places to a new high of 44th. Beaten finalists Peru and third placed Venezuela slip two places to 69th and 67th respectively.