Boks 'improve' without playing
It means the Springboks have climbed two places in the world rankings since their last match – a win over Argentina in Buenos Aires last month.
Their rise, despite the team's inactivity, is the result of Ireland's dramatic slump – the men from the Emerald Isle having lost to Wales (10-16) and England (13-21) in the past fortnight.
As a result, Rugby Championship heavyweights New Zealand, Australia and South Africa will go into World Cup as the top three nations in the rankings.
Ireland's rating fell by 0.79 points and resulted in a three-place drop to sixth for the Six Nations Champions, placing them below the Springboks.
England gained the same amount of points to leapfrog their Pool A opponents Wales into fourth.
Long-time leaders New Zealand remain untouchable – for a fortnight at least – on 92.89 points, with Australia 6.22 points behind in second and South Africa a further 1.52 points back in third.
Australia were unable to make up any ground on their arch rivals, despite being the only one of the three in action over the weekend
Their 47-10 win over the United States in Chicago did not come with any ratings points, given the double-figure difference in rankings positions and rating points between the nations.
Serious injuries to star fullback Leigh Halfpenny and scrumhalf Rhys Webb, made it a day to forget for Wales, who scraped home 23-19 against Italy at the Millennium Stadium.
