Boks' No.1 ranking on the line
RANKINGS PREVIEW: The Springboks’ top spot in World Rugby’s rankings is on the line as the July international season gets underway this weekend.
South Africa, New Zealand, France and Ireland are the teams that can end the weekend on top of the rankings.
South Africa cannot improve their rating with victory over Wales due to the 11.33 rating points between the teams before home weighting is factored in. If South Africa draw with Wales, then New Zealand or Ireland must win by more than 15 points to assume the No.1 ranking.
Defeat for the Springboks means that a smaller margin of victory will be sufficient for New Zealand or Ireland.
The Boks will drop to third in defeat if in tandem with a France victory in Japan and win for either New Zealand or Ireland.
The world champions could drop to fourth if the margin of defeat is more than 15 points and New Zealand and Ireland draw.
Meanwhile, New Zealand can drop to their lowest ever ranking of fourth if they lose and France win.
If South Africa win, New Zealand will still gain one place with victory regardless of France’s result in Japan.
#ICYMI: Jasper Wiese is determined to not get caught in the ‘bottleneck’ of loose forwards that has formed in the Springbok team. 👇#SouthAfrica #Springboks #Wales #RSAvWAL https://t.co/cEy0g48zGE
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) July 1, 2022
France can top the rankings for the first time if they win, South Africa lose and it is a draw at Eden Park.
Ireland will be the higher-ranked of the two nations if they avoid defeat in New Zealand. They have only occupied top spot for two weeks – in September 2019 – since the rankings were introduced in October 2003.
Australia will climb above England with victory in the opening test in Perth. England can only improve on fifth place if they win by more than 15 points and France lose to Japan by the same margin.
Japan will climb above a beaten Wales into ninth if they beat France. The Brave Blossoms could climb another place to eighth if they win by more than 15 points, Wales are beaten and Scotland lose by the same margin in Argentina.
France will fall two places to fourth if they lose to Japan. They could drop another place if the margin of defeat for them and Australia against England is more than 15 points.
Wales will climb above a beaten Scotland if they can defeat South Africa in Pretoria.
Fiji cannot improve their rating with victory over Tonga due to the 8.9 rating points between them before home weighting is factored in. Tonga will climb above Spain into 15th if they draw and Romania fail to beat Italy.
Argentina will climb above Scotland into seventh if they win the first Test in July. Scotland could fall as low as 10th depending on the margin of defeat and the results in South Africa and Japan.
World Rankings (Top 10):
1 – South Africa – 90.61 points
2 – France – 88.88
3 – New Zealand – 88.75
4 – Ireland – 88.22
5 – England – 84.50
6 – Australia – 83.92
7 – Scotland – 81.80
8 – Argentina – 80.58
9 – Wales – 79.28
10 – Japan – 78.26
#ICYMI: WATCH as Wales captain Dan Biggar previews the first Test of a three-match series against the World Cup champions Springboks on Saturday. #SouthAfrica #Springboks #Wales #RSAvWAL https://t.co/zar3VmD3tw
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) July 1, 2022
