The Springboks will be satisfied with their one-sided victory against Italy on Saturday, but when it comes to the world rugby rankings, South Africa should be keeping a close eye on the All Blacks.
With the Springboks unable to improve their points tally due to the lowly position of Italy, it’s the second-placed All Blacks who continue to eat into South Africa’s rankings lead with victory against fourth-placed France, who have brought a weakened squad to New Zealand.
On Saturday, the All Blacks improved their tally by 0.74 points after securing a resounding 43-17 win against Les Bleus, and there is now just 1.06 points separating South Africa and New Zealand at the top of the rankings.
The All Blacks will be favourites to pick up one more win over France in the third and final Test between the teams, and so there is every chance that there could be very little separating the Springboks and New Zealand in the rankings by the time the Rugby Championship begins.
Meanwhile, in other shake ups to the rankings, Scotland’s shock 29-14 loss to Fiji will see them fall down to eighth, while Argentina slip to seventh after losing to England again. The Wallabies, in turn, jump to sixth without kicking a ball.
LATEST RANKINGS AS ALL BLACKS MOVE IN ON SPRINGBOKS
| 1 South Africa | 92.78 |
| 2 New Zealand | 91.72 |
| 3 Ireland | 89.83 |
| 4 France | 88.16 |
| 5 England | 87.64 |
| 6 Australia | 82.08 |
| 7 Argentina | 82.05 |
| 8 Scotland | 81.37 |
| 9 Fiji | 80.50 |
| 10 Italy | 77.77 |
What do you think of these standings?
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