Number one.

Defending champions Ireland head into this year’s Six Nations with a chance of making even more history following an incredible 2018 under head coach Joe Schmidt.

The men in green pulled off an impressive Grand Slam that saw them defeat both England and France away from home, as well as securing maximum points in all three of their home games. They also went on to win a series in Australia, before defeating the All Blacks on the way to a November clean sweep.

And that run of games has put them within touching distance of New Zealand in terms of the World Rugby Rankings, and in a position to overtake them over the next couple of months if results go their way.

Ireland currently trail the world champions by 1.37 points and here’s what they need to do to overtake them.

Sat, Feb 2: IRELAND vs. England (0.20 points)
So if you want to get maximum points in the rankings you must defeat a team by more than 15 points. So for example here a 20-0 win over England would give Ireland 0.31 points, whereas a 3-0 win would give them 0.20 points. So let’s say Ireland edge past England at home.

Sat, Feb 9: Scotland vs. IRELAND (0.37 points)
The same here. A win, but by less than 15 points. In fact let’s say Ireland win all their games by less than 15 points to make it as realistic and doable as possible. Let’s say Ireland wins all five games 3-0.

Sun, Feb 24: Italy vs. IRELAND (0 points)
No points on offer here because Ireland are so far ahead of Italy.

Sun, Mar 10: IRELAND vs. France (0 points)
Same story here, with Ireland being at home an added factor. No points on offer.

Sat, Mar 16: Wales vs. IRELAND (.91 points)
And here’s the big one. A win by 15 points or more would give Ireland a huge 1.36 points. But as we said – let’s say they win all games by less than 15 to make is as doable as possible, so that would give them .91 additional points.

This would leave Ireland on 92.57 points – 0.03 of a point ahead of New Zealand! And more importantly – the number one ranked team in the world. So there you have it. Win a Grand Slam by any means possible and Ireland will officially be the best rugby team in the world.

Sounds easy doesn’t it? Truth is though – it most certainly will not be. Ireland have got some very tough games this year and will need to be at their very best to pull off another Grand Slam.

Oh and ignore the rankings below Ireland, because we didn’t fill in predicted results for the rest of the games as no team can overtake Ireland if they win all their games.

All calculations courtesy of the Rugby4Cast Database. Give them a follow on Twitter here.