In addition to booking their place in the next stage of Rugby World Cup 2007 qualifying, Malta can also celebrate moving up eight places to 53rd in the IRB World Rankings.

As a result of Saturday’s historic and dramatic win over Denmark, Malta have risen from 61st to 53rd. Denmark have dropped from 42nd to 46th.

On its official website, IRB, gave prominence to Malta’s triumph against Denmark in front of a packed Corradino stadium.

The current world rankings for the countries in the next pool in the 2007 World Cup are:

Germany (27th), Croatia (36th), Belgium (37th), Malta (53rd) and Serbia-Montenegro (57th).

So it will be a tough hill for Malta to climb, but the team will relish an opportunity for a replay against Serbia-Montenegro. With the right support and the right backing from the authorities further progress is possible, to win through to the final qualifying stages of the 2007 World Cup, making it a magnificent achievement.