The boot of Mike Harris in Australia's 25-19 victory over Argentina ensured their return to second spot in the latest IRB World Rankings.
Harris kicked 20 points at the Estadio Gigante de Arroyito in Rosario on Saturday to give the Wallabies second place, albeit a distant one behind champions New Zealand, in the inaugural Rugby Championship standings.
Only four tenths had separated South Africa and Australia going into the final round of matches, but the Springboks' 32-16 loss to New Zealand in Soweto had put their second spot on the line.
The difference between the two sides has now grown to 1.23 rating points, although both Australia and South Africa have seen their rating go down during the Rugby Championship.
New Zealand's four-try victory - their 16th consecutive Test win - at FNB Stadium increased their rating by just over nine tenths to now sit 7.43 points clear at the top of the IRB World Rankings.
The All Blacks have occupied top spot since 16 November 2009 and their clean sweep in the Rugby Championship has seen that cushion increase by 3.05 points.
Argentina remain eighth after their first taste of the Rugby Championship, but are now less than a point above Scotland, placing their position in the second band of seeds for the Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool Allocation Draw on 3 December at stake.
The Rugby Championship was not the only tournament to impact the IRB World Rankings this weekend with the beginning of the RWC 2015 qualification process in Europe resulting in a number of positional changes.
Hungary were the biggest beneficiaries after winning the region's first qualifier, climbing four places to 81st after beating Bulgaria 28-23 in the presence of the Webb Ellis Cup in Kecskemét on Saturday.
They now sit one place above Bulgaria, who fall three places to 82nd after losing the European Nations Cup Division 2C encounter before a record crowd for a rugby match in Hungary.
IRB World Rankings
(Old position bracketed)
1(1) New Zealand 93.35
2(3) Australia 85.92
3(2) South Africa 84.69
4(4) England 83.09
5(5) France 83.03
6(6) Wales 82.26
7(7) Ireland 79.85
8(8) Argentina 78.63
9(9) Scotland 77.97
10(10) Samoa 76.23
With thanks to the IRB
Comments
sandal says...
@lostguy
I didn't say Australia were the best team in the world.
I said they were the best team "bang for bucks" -- that is, measured against their playing resources. They punch above their weight more than anyone else. By the same token Scotland, Samoa and, yes, New Zealand are also very good.
And I'm not being ironic. Not yet, anyway. I'll follow Trinats' lead and decide later.
Posted 05:30 11th October 2012
shoobydo says...
@Trader2
England play Fiji as well but I reckon you are right - France are favourites for 4th spot and a WC seeding.
Can't see Wales beating NZ or OZ and England will have to beat at least one of the top 3, possibly two.
Posted 21:46 10th October 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
Jonesey: England are good but not so good that they can be sure to go up the ranks before playing their Autumn tests. That would have taken Argentina to deliver when they should have.
Posted 17:28 10th October 2012
APV1 says...
@ Trader2 - I fear you could be correct. Not because the other teams are better (we all know England should be #1 after-all), but because of who we're playing...
Posted 14:54 10th October 2012
Trader2 says...
APV1
Top 4 on Xmas day:
New Zealand
South Africa
Australia
France
England and France play three home games each, England v Oz, SA and NZ and France play Oz, Argies and Western Samoa I reackon France have more chance of +15 point victories than England and that should do it, oh and England are pretty hopeless in general. (only kidding - a little)
Posted 14:06 10th October 2012
passtheball says...
Sandal - I think Samoa might be the best rugby country "bang for bucks" even if they are mostly in NZ recently.
Deans experience / Canterbury background / personality - suits players who do what the coach demands and stick to entrenched team patterns. Aus stars tend to think more independently so would find coaches like Deans frustrating.
Posted 12:33 10th October 2012
lostguy101 says...
Is it just me or is PR one of the Southern Hemispheres best posting site, even though it is based and run up North?
@ jonesy2 - sour grapes...the IRB rankings are fair and are worked out using a basic rating system that allows for the teams current rankings, whether home or away, and the outcome (amount scored/margin). Not rocket science.
@sandal - Australia the best rugby country in the world, lol...no comment.
Posted 11:17 10th October 2012
Ferdie says...
bad news for us - if Sharpe keeps playing it means georgesmith with keep up with his rants:
"Nathan Sharpe has been asked Wallabies coach Robbie Deans and ARU chief executive John O'Neill to shelve his retirement plans one more time to lead the Wallabies on their end-of-year trip to Europe next month. Even if Horwill and Pocock recovered from their injuries to make the tour, they might not have enough match fitness to start in the Tests."
Posted 05:46 10th October 2012
sandal says...
@heathy
Thanks for the heads up.
Irony is not an easy thing to communicate in writing, particularly when one considers many of the posters here. And does irony, repeated, repeated, repeated, really explain all of the persistence? Who really can be bothered making the same joke again and again if they don't believe what they're saying?
But "irony" can always cover a fool's back ...
Posted 01:36 10th October 2012
Ramage says...
Hahaha Do I spot a bit of green envy there georgesmith? Still cant accept that Australia arent doing so badly despite your woeful predictions. Every post you make on here just becomes a bigger joke because you are a LOSER.
Posted 23:03 09th October 2012
heathy says...
@ sandal & Trinats2 - I think you may find that 2EyedKiwi was being rather sarcastic. Doh!!!!
Posted 14:23 09th October 2012
Trinats2 says...
sandal:
One eyed Kiwi is having a go (winding up) hence my reply to his post !!
I agree with you on 9 and 11.
Mate you should lighten up, it's just a bit of banter/fun/wind up. It not real.
Posted 13:36 09th October 2012
sandal says...
@2EYEDKIWI
You say ""With Australia missing the worlds best #'s 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ...""
I agree with you over 9 and 11, but 5, 6, 7, 8, 10?
I'm not sure even Robbie Deans knows who you're talking about.
That aside, Australia remain, bangs for bucks, the best rugby country in the world.
Posted 12:12 09th October 2012
Trinats2 says...
2EyedKiwi:
I wouldn't say Palu (8) is the worlds best at his position, very good but not the best, like the others you mention in their positions !!!
Posted 10:37 09th October 2012
2EyedKiwi says...
With Australia missing the worlds best #'s 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 out injured, the worlds best 11 playing with an injury, and the worlds best 15 playing out of position, Robbie Deans has done an incredible job to keep this team as high as 2!
John O'Neill - you are a visionary in sticking by Robbie.
Posted 08:27 09th October 2012
Melkiwi says...
Not bad considering the amount of first choice players out due to injury.
Being a kiwi and living in Australia and have seen first had the amount of resources or should I say lack of resources Australia have they are certainly punching above their weight.
Posted 07:11 09th October 2012
kinsman says...
@cuw3100, ranking positions are completely irrelevant. They are based on the actual point spread between the sides in the rankings. In this case, there was a larger gap between 1st and 2nd than between 3rd and 8th...... although I believe NZ would have picked up a few extra (50% I think) points for a victory by more than 15. IRB website has a great section explaining how they work and why they are calculated as they are.
On a side point, Trinats doesn't necessarily want rid of Deans, Deans is just his sacrificial lamb to the pretty successful and somewhat amusing baiting of NZ posters. Georgesmith meanwhile is just an idiot and to be honest, I skip clean across his comments these days.
Posted 07:00 09th October 2012
jonesy2 says...
amazing how you fickle bunch change your tunes last week it was australia are on their way down to hang with ireland and argentina and now that they have claimed their second spot back they are amazing and deans is amazing. i thought england were going to be in the top 3 by the end of the year? rankings are still a joke
Posted 06:44 09th October 2012
cuw3100 says...
PR, just curious how these points work. NZ (1) beat SA (2) and there is very slight increase in points. OZ (3) beat Arg (8) but the points increase is big.Does it mean the ranking are irrelevant to the points gained???
Posted 05:22 09th October 2012
oceansnz says...
Kudos MUST surely be given to Deans!
Well done Dingo!
Posted 01:43 09th October 2012