Switzerland have moved above Kenya and into 31st place in the World Rugby Rankings after beating Lithuania 34-24 on Saturday to finish third in the Rugby Europe Trophy.
The Swiss were outscored four tries to three on a crisp and sunny day in Schaffhausen but the goal-kicking of half-backs, Donovan O'Grady and Jules Porcher always kept the home side in command of the scoreboard.
Lithuania drop one place to 34th and as a result, Poland's position is improved. Lithuania now have to wait until 8 June to play the Netherlands in the only outstanding game of this year's Rugby Europe Trophy.
It took a 78th-minute penalty from full-back James Kirk to rescue an 18-18 draw for Malta in their Conference 1 South title decider against Croatia. The result saw the sides finish the season level on points at the top of the table but Malta took the honours thanks to their superior points difference.
Having been held at home to lower-ranked opposition, Malta suffer a two-place fall in the rankings to 40th with Croatia's disappointment in missing out on the silverware tempered by a four-place rise to 45th.
In Conference 1 North, Luxembourg came out on top in a tough encounter against Moldova to win their first match of the season, 23-10. Victory was only properly secured when right winger Adrien Timmermans crossed in the final minute.
Luxembourg picked up just over one rating point for the win which was enough to take them above Chinese Taipei and into 63rd place in the rankings.
Photo: Rugby Suisse