Kenya maintained position 28 in World Rugby rankings despite taking down Morocco 28-24 in their opening Africa Gold Cup cum 2019 World Cup qualifier on Saturday in Casablanca.

The win, the first ever for Kenya out in Morocco after two failed attempts in 2005 and 2007, saw the Simbas gain 0.64 points to improve from 55.66 to 56.30 moving to within 0.22 points of 27th placed Netherlands.

Also read Ranking: Morocco gain on Uganda ahead of Kenya clash

In the process Kenya has opened a 0.67 point gap over 29th placed Germany. Last week, the European nation had move to within 0.03 points of the Simbas.

Consequently, as a result of the Saturday loss, Morocco dropped 0.65 points to drop from 49.13 to 48.48 which led to a two positional drop; from 38th to 40th in the World.

Paraguay and Malta were direct beneficiaries, each moving up by a position to 38th and 39th, respectively.

As Kenya played Morocco, champions Namibia bashed Tunisia a record 118-0 in Windhoek. That result had no ranking effect as Namibia stayed 24th and Tunisia 42nd in the standings.

Two other nations taking part in the 2018 Gold Cup - Uganda and Zimbabwe, both idle at the weekend, maintained spots 37 and 44.

Tonga, England rise

There were upward shifts in rankings as England gained two positions, from sixth to fourth, following a 25-10 win over South Africa at Newlands. The gain meant Australia and the Springboks reeled backward by a position each to fifth and sixth.

Tonga also went up two placed, from 14 to 12, following a superb 27-19 win over Fiji in Suva. Their rise meant Georgia and Italy dropped down to 13th and 14th, respectively.

New Zealand stayed top once again as Ireland consolidated second spot with a 20-16 win over host Australia. Wales are third.