World Rugby rankings: Springboks regain top spot as All Blacks’ reign lasts just one week
World Rugby rankings following wins for the Springboks and Wallabies.
The Springboks have returned to the top of the World Rugby rankings after defeating the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday.
South Africa relinquished top spot for the second time since the 2023 Rugby World Cup final when New Zealand claimed a 33-16 victory in Johannesburg.
The previous time they found themselves in second position was following the 24-17 reversal to Scott Robertson’s All Blacks at Eden Park exactly 12 months ago.
However, just like last year, when the Boks claimed a historic 43-10 success in Wellington, it only lasted one week as Rassie Erasmus’ men bounced back from the first loss.
The back-to-back world champions managed to secure a 33-26 triumph at DHL Stadium to give them 1.18 points as they returned to the summit, with the tourists losing the same amount for Saturday’s result.
Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende and Siya Kolisi touched down while Cheslin Kolbe kicked 18 points (four penalties and three conversions) to take them back to the top.
For the second week running, Dave Rennie’s charges scored more tries with Cam Roigard, Damian McKenzie, Leroy Carter and Ardie Savea going over, but it was not enough to keep their place at number one.
They will now head back to Johannesburg for the third Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series where top spot will once again be on the line.
Wallabies rise as Los Pumas fall
The switch at the summit was not the only change in the top 10 as the Wallabies rose one place following their thrilling 27-21 victory over Argentina.
Australia started brightly, scoring two tries through Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Carter Gordon, and then managed to keep Los Pumas at arm’s length for the rest of the encounter.
Geronimo Prisciantelli and Fraser McReight traded tries before Joaquin Moro went over to reduce the arrears to eight points at the interval.
Boris Wenger then crossed the whitewash for the South Americans to give them real hope of producing an excellent comeback but Tom Hooper’s try was enough for the Australia to seal the win.
As a result, they garnered 1.05 points for that away triumph to move above Saturday’s opponents in the standings and into seventh place, while Felipe Contepomi’s side dropped down to eighth.
Like the Springboks v All Blacks series, however, that could also change the following when the two countries go head-to-head for a second time on September 5.
Latest World Rugby rankings
1(2) South Africa 93.39
2(1) New Zealand 92.85
3(3) Ireland 88.08
4(4) France 87.43
5(5) England 85.68
6(6) Scotland 84.78
7(8) Australia 83.71
8(7) Argentina 82.08
9(9) Fiji 78.00
10(10) Wales 76.38
11(11) Italy 76.30
12(12) Japan 75.36
13(13) Georgia 73.94
14(14) USA 70.22
15(15) Portugal 69.39
16(16) Chile 66.94
17(17) Spain 66.83
18(18) Uruguay 65.75
19(19) Tonga 65.14
20(20) Samoa 64.73