The Welsh went into their final test of the year ranked seventh in the International Rugby Board (IRB) rankings but knowing that defeat to Australia would relegate them to ninth spot below Samoa and Argentina.
England will remain fifth in the rankings despite their impressive 38-21 win over New Zealand.
The rankings are used to rank the 12 directly qualified teams for the World Cup into three bands. They will be officially published at 1200GMT on Monday.
Sides ranked one to four will be in band one and will avoid each other until the knockout stages. The teams ranked five to eight will be in band two and the remaining four in band three.
IRB provisional world rankings:
1. New Zealand 90,08
2. South Africa 86,94
3. Australia 86,87
4. France 85,07
5. England 83,90
6. Ireland 80,22
7. Samoa 78,71
8. Argentina 78,71
9. Wales 78,39
10. Italy 76,24
11. Tonga 76,10
12. Scotland 75,83