Fifty-seven nations have been given a New Year boost with a one place elevation in the latest IRB World Rankings as a result of the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union being phased out on 31 December 2010.

In an exciting restructure in the West Asia region, the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union has been disbanded to pave the way for new Unions to be formed, providing the impetus for the growth of the Game.

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The Arabian Gulf were ranked 38th at the time of their disbanding, so all Unions below them from Paraguay down to Finland at the bottom of the IRB World Rankings rise one place with 94 of the IRB's Member Unions now ranked.

The IRB World Rankings will remain unchanged until the beginning of February when the RBS Six Nations kicks off and the European Nations Cup 2012 resumes with the top tier featuring Georgia, Russia, Romania, Portugal, Spain and newcomers Ukraine.