Major Kangaroos' surprise despite shock Kiwis loss

Australia have retained top spot in the International Rugby League (IRL) world rankings, despite suffering its biggest loss in 115 years against New Zealand in November.

The reigning World Cup champions moved into the inaugural Pacific Championships as the top-ranked side, but were pummeled 30-0 in the tournament final against the Kiwis.

Mal Meninga's side were completely humbled on the field, but in a surprise development on Thursday night, the IRL have revealed the Kangaroos are still ranked above their Trans-Tasman counterparts.

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New Zealand – who are now on the hunt for a new coach after Michael Maguire's departure – have held onto the No.2 spot, while England also enjoyed a successful 3-0 series win over Tonga and are still sat third on the list.

Samoa and Tonga round out the top-five in the men's game, while the Cook Islands have moved into the top 10 following their efforts in the Pacific Championships.

According to the official IRL release, points are awarded to teams each time they take the field in a sanctioned international fixture, with the result, winning margin, strength of opponent and the importance of the match all factoring into the points system.

"In a nine-day period alone we had 23 sanctioned international matches, which was wonderful to see," IRL chairman Troy Grant said in a statement.

"We have the Pacific Championships up and running in the Southern Hemisphere, with Papua New Guinea as winners of the Pacific Bowl and New Zealand as winners of the Pacific Cup.

"We also had an historic tour by Tonga to England in the Northern Hemisphere, which was well won by England.

"The on-field activity is what it is all about, ultimately and I have every confidence that the on-field content will only continue to grow, as will the competitiveness and status of international rugby league."

The updated rankings for the IRL are:

1. Australia
2. New Zealand
3. England
4. Samoa
5. Tonga
6. Papua New Guinea
7. Fiji
8. France
9. Lebanon
10. Cook Islands