Both England and Wales could rise to the top of the world rankings with victory at Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Reigning Grand Slam champions Wales will already be chasing a win with added motivation after losing 33-19 in the reverse fixture last week.
Defeat spoiled Alun Wyn Jones’ record-breaking appearance as his country’s most capped player and simultaneously ended Wales’ win streak at 14 under Warren Gatland.
But there will be an added incentive for both teams this time around with the number one spot in the World Rugby rankings potentially up for grabs.
Wales did temporarily occupy the spot when they arrived in Twickenham after New Zealand suffered a heavy defeat to bitter rivals Australia – a 47-26 thrashing in Perth.
But an outstanding performance from Eddie Jones’ men prevented the Welsh from capitalising, instead bumping England up into fourth with Ireland separating the two sides in third.
A win for Wales would see them rise to the top of the rankings by a slender 0.2 points while England would need to win by at least 15 points after the All Blacks did the business in the Bledisloe Cup decider – beating Australia 36-0.
It would be the first time New Zealand have been knocked off their perch since South Africa were ranked above them in 2009, almost a decade ago.
There was also an unlikely set of circumstances that could have led to Ireland stealing in and taking that top spot from under England and Wales’ noses.
If Australia had won or drawn against New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday morning and Wales and England drew in the afternoon, Ireland would take top spot without playing a game – although that was scuppered by the All Blacks’ resounding victory over their Antipodean rivals.
Wales v England kicks off at 2.15pm at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.
