World rankings: All Blacks can send Springboks tumbling down in Ellis Park epic as Wallabies eye a jump
New Zealand could send South Africa tumbling down the World Rugby rankings.
New Zealand could send South Africa tumbling down the World Rugby rankings if the All Blacks claim a win over the Springboks at Ellis Park.
A win of any kind in the Rugby Championship round three clash will see South Africa surrender top spot and New Zealand could surpass the Springboks on the rankings if they secure a famous win over Rassie Erasmus’ men.
Ahead of the weekend’s action, we run through the ranking permutations with Australia also able to leapfrog past Argentina.
All Blacks could surpass the Springboks in the world rankings
In the case that the All Blacks claim a victory of more than 15 points, New Zealand take one step closer to returning to the top of the rankings for the first time since November 2021.
A defeat to Ireland on 13 November 2021 saw the All Blacks surrender top spot, a position they have not returned to since. However, they will have to claim back-to-back wins in the Republic to secure top spot again as even a win of more than 15 points – which would be their biggest-ever at Ellis Park – will not be enough to replace South Africa.
In the event that Robertson’s mean better the record 23-35 win at Ellis Park from 2022, then Ireland will move into first place with the Springboks crashing down to third and New Zealand moving into second.
A win by 15 points or less will see South Africa surrender top spot to Ireland but they would only fall to second place with New Zealand remaining third.
Meanwhile, the clash at Ellis Park provides the opportunity for South Africa to increase their lead at the top of the standings. A win of 15 points or less would see their ratings points tally stand at 93.37 – creating a 1.25 rating point buffer over Ireland – while a victory of more than 15 points will see their lead extend to 1.38 rating points.
In the later kick-off in the Rugby Championship, the Wallabies have the opportunity to not only notch up their first win of the campaign but also the chance of moving up two places.
Australia head into round three of the competition ranked ninth overall and if they are able to topple their hosts by a margin of more than 15 points, they will leapfrog Los Pumas into seventh place with Argentina moving to eigth and Scotland moving up a ranking spot to sixth.
A smaller margin of victory for Joe Schmidt’s men still see them move up a place but by just one as they would switch places with Italy.
As for the Pumas, they cannot improve on their sixth-place ranking but they can close the gap on England in fifth. A victory of more than 15 points would move them to 1.7 rating points shy of England and a win by a smaller margin would see them trail by 1.83 ratings points.
Pacific Nations Cup rankings permutations
Meanwhile, in the Pacific Nations Cup, Samoa are unable to improve on their current 13th-place ranking regardless of the margin of victory over Tonga.
As for the USA, a victory of more than 15 points over Canada will see them move ahead of Spain in the rankings.
A big away win – of 16 points or more – for Tonga would send them up to 14th place demoting Samoa by three places to 16th while a smaller margin would not be enough for ‘Ikale Tahi to improve their position, but it would still lead to Samoa being replaced in 13th by Japan.
If Canada end a more than a decade wait for a win over the Eagles in the USA, they will become North America’s highest-ranked side for the first time since June 2016. However, the win would have to be an emphatic one to do so with a win of 15 points or less being just enough to surpass Romania and rejoin the top 20 for the first time since 2020. Another defeat on American soil would lead to Canada dropping below Chile into 22nd.
READ MORE: Argentina v Australia preview: Los Pumas to edge wobbly Wallabies in Agustin Creevy’s last hurrah
World Rankings as of 30/08/2024
1 South Africa 93.11
2 Ireland 92.12
3 New Zealand 88.71
4 France 86.96
5 England 85.4
6 Argentina 83.30
7 Scotland 82.82
8 Italy 79.98
9 Australia 78.96
10 Fiji 77.92
11 Wales 76.04
12 Georgia 74.10
13 Samoa 73.17
14 Japan 72.12
15 Portugal 70.61
16 Tonga 68.66
17 Uruguay 67.39
18 Spain 66.29
19 USA 66.01
20 Romania 62.62
