WALES went top of rugby union’s world rankings for the first time after beating England 13-6 in Cardiff on Saturday, but head coach Warren Gatland says his team will not let the accolade go to their heads.

Their rise to the summit, ending New Zealand’s 10-year occupation despite a 36-0 All Blacks win over Australia earlier in the day, comes just over a month before the World Cup kicks off in Japan.

It was an impressive warm-up performance for the tournament as they reeled off an 11th successive home win.

Winger George North’s 34th-minute try sent Wales on their way to avenging their 33-19 defeat at Twickenham last weekend, while Dan Biggar converted and kicked a penalty to leave England 10 points adrift at half-time.

The visitors were slicker and more cohesive after the break but Wales restricted them to a couple of George Ford penalties before a late Leigh Halfpenny strike sealed victory.

Halfpenny had only started after full-back Liam Williams suffered a hamstring issue during the warm-up, giving the veteran his first Test appearance since November.

England also suffered a blow ahead of the game when wing Ruaridh McConnochie — due to make his Test debut — was ruled out because of a hamstring problem and replaced by Bath colleague Anthony Watson.

England centre Piers Francis and prop Dan Cole delivered strong performances in their first game since head coach Eddie Jones announced his 31-man World Cup squad.

Responding to the world ranking news Jones cheekily tried to deflect pressure onto the victors: “They’re favourites for the World Cup now. When you go to number one, you’re favourites for the World Cup.”

But Gatland received the honour calmly and said: “It’s just a number, isn’t it.”

He said: “It is a nice accolade to have, but it is all about the next few months and backing that up by performing well in the World Cup, and we’ve a couple of games against Ireland to go as well.

“It’s nice for a day, but we won’t be shouting from the rooftops about it. We have got to keep things in perspective.

“We showed some fantastic character and big cojones out there. That's what these boys are about, they wear this jersey with pride.”

Both teams go on to face the world’s third-ranked Ireland — England at Twickenham next weekend and Wales for a two-match return starting in Cardiff on August 31 — before the World Cup begins.