England have moved past New Zealand in the latest update of the rugby league world rankings, after a recent 2-1 series win over the Kiwis.
Wanye Bennett's side picked up three wins over the Kiwis from four attempts in 2018, and have now closed the gap on Australia, who remain in top spot.
"This is a good way to round off what has been a successful year for all our teams in the England Performance Unit," England director of rugby Kevin Sinfield said regarding the updated standings.
"We saw a good number of new faces come through into the senior England squad, some of them from the Knights programme who themselves had a successful trip to Papua New Guinea.
"It's pleasing to see the investment we've made, in combination with Sport England, paying dividends and due credit for what has been an excellent team effort on and off the field."
The Kangaroos did loss to New Zealand back in October, but the Kiwis struggled across the year and fell one position.
Tonga and Fiji remain in fourth and fifth respectively, while France jumps up two spots to sixth, leapfrogging Samoa and Scotland.
RLIF men's worldย rankings:
1 (1) Australia
2 (3) England
3 (2) New Zealand
4 (4) Tonga
5 (5) Fiji
6 (8) France
7 (6) Samoa
8 (7) Scotland
9 (9) Lebanon
10 (10) Papua New Guinea
RLIF women's Rankings:
1 (1) Australia
2 (2) England
3 (3) New Zealand
4 (4) Tonga
5 (5) Fiji
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