Why Boks won't be No.1 soon

RANKINGS UPDATE: South Africa will have to wait until November before they get a chance to reclaim their place at the top of the world rankings.

After losing 28-29 to Argentina last week, the Springboks slipped down to second place.

However, they will not be rewarded for turning things around in the final round of the Rugby Championship in Nelspruit this Saturday.

The World Rugby points exchange system works against them on this occasion because, with home advantage and 7.47 points and four places separating the teams, a bounce-back victory would not impact their rating.

Even a big turnaround would not improve their rating of 91.77 points, which leaves them currently 0.35 adrift of Ireland.

Ireland replaced them as the official world’s best team when the Springboks fell to the agonising defeat in Santiago del Estero, ending the Springboks’ 13-month unbroken reign at the top.

And they will stay there until the internationals resume in November.

With the Springboks exclusively playing lower-ranked opposition on their European tour – England (fifth), Scotland (seventh) and Wales (11th), the reality is that they will need Ireland to slip up to topple them.

Ireland hosts New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia in a mouth-watering line-up of fixtures in Dublin.

By Jon Newcombe