World Rankings: The 15-point difference for the Springboks
SPOTLIGHT: World Rugby has published the ranking permutations ahead of this weekend’s final round in the Rugby Championship.
South Africa could lose to Argentina in London this weekend and remain top of the World Rugby rankings, providing they don’t lose to Los Pumas by more than 15 points or New Zealand beats Australia by that same margin.
These scenarios would see a third change at the top during the Rugby Championship this season, with New Zealand and South Africa swapping places again, dropping the world champions to third.
A South Africa win could see their advantage over Ireland at the top increase by nearly one rating point to 2.66 points if they beat Argentina on Saturday.
If both South Africa and New Zealand win, then the All Blacks will climb above Ireland into second place behind the Springboks.
South Africa will be replaced at number one by Ireland if they lose by more than 15 points and the Bledisloe Cup match in Perth ends in a draw.
Argentina, who have elected to play their home match with South Africa at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, cannot catch England above in fifth even with an emphatic victory.
However, defeat for Los Pumas could see them again swap places with Australia in the rankings if the Wallabies avoid defeat against New Zealand.
This will see Australia climb to sixth and what would be a place in Band 1 for the World Cup 2027 Draw in December.
Australia cannot slip from seventh this weekend even if beaten heavily at home.
