World Rankings: Boks' lead reduced
SPOTLIGHT: The gap at the top of the World Rugby Men’s Rankings will be narrowed on Monday after the first round of the Nations Championship.
South Africa’s advantage over New Zealand at the top will be cut to 2.90 points by virtue of the All Blacks‘ nail-biting 34-32 win over a weakened France.
The win in Christchurch will boost the All Blacks’ score to 91.04 points, with South Africa, who won’t receive any reward for beating England, static on 93.94 points.
Ireland, who edged Australia 33-31, remain in third, one ahead of France, while the Wallabies will also be unchanged in eighth.
Most significantly, Scotland will move up a couple of places to equal their all-time high of fifth after beating Argentina 47-38 at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Córdoba.
In a helter-skelter match typical of the weekend, where an average of 69 points were scored per match across both competitions, Scotland registered their highest-ever score against the Pumas in Argentina.
It not only gives them a winning start to the Nations Championship but also an improved rankings score of 84.11, which will be enough for them to replace the Pumas in the top five and leapfrog England in the process, even though their rivals south of the border don’t lose any points for their 21-45 defeat to the Springboks.
The last time Scotland had occupied fifth place was during Rugby World Cup 2023.
Updated World Rugby Men’s Rankings Top 25
1. South Africa – 93.94 (-)
2. New Zealand – 91.04 (-)
3. Ireland – 89.32 (-)
4. France – 86.75 (-)
5. Scotland – 84.71 (+2)
6. England – 83.91 (-)
7. Argentina – 83.77 (-2)
8. Australia – 81.28 (-)
9. Fiji – 79.53 (-)
10. Italy – 77.31 (-)
11. Wales – 76.68 (-)
12. Japan – 76.42 (-)
13. Georgia – 72.67 (-)
14. USA – 69.40 (+2)
15. Portugal – 68.51 (-1)
16. Uruguay – 68.46 (-1)
17. Chile – 67.31 (+1)
18. Samoa – 66.91 (+2)
19. Tonga – 66.88 (-)
20. Spain – 66.64 (-3)
21. Belgium – 61.02 (-)
22. Romania – 60.08 (-)
23. Canada – 59.63 (+2)
24. Hong Kong China – 59.14 (-1)
25. Zimbabwe – 58.59 (-1)
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