World Rugby rankings: Wallabies usurp Six Nations side and what Springboks defeat means for All Blacks
Wallabies lock Jeremy Williams wins a lineout against Springboks.
The Wallabies claimed a 42-38 win over the Springboks in Perth on Sunday and the result comes with an added positive as it moves them up one position in the rankings.
It was a humdinger at the Optus Stadium as both teams scored five tries apiece but the boot of Ryan Lonergan helped Australia seal a shock result over the world champions.
Len Ikitau (2), Ben Donaldson, Harry Wilson and Max Jorgensen went over for the Wallabies‘ tries while scrum-half Lonergan kicked four conversions and three penalties.
The Boks scored via Johan Grobbelaar, Edwill van der Merwe, Morne van den Berg and a penalty try, Handre Pollard and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu adding 11 points.
In terms of the World Rugby rankings this triumph has moved Australia from seventh up to sixth position at the expense of Scotland, who subsequently drop down a spot.
Had they have beaten the Springboks by more than 15 points – which looked highly likely at one stage – Australia would have also climbed above England into fifth place.
Bledisloe Cup up next
Their next assignments come against the All Blacks in back-to-back Bledisloe Cup meetings on October 10 and 17 as Les Kiss looks to build on a six-match unbeaten run.
Indeed, this streak that was started by outgoing coach Joe Schmidt means it’s the first time in nine years since they went six Tests unbeaten (September/October 2017).
Meanwhile, Sunday’s negative means the Springboks drop down from 95.09 points to 93.09, which brings the All Blacks back to within 1.94 points of the world champions.
Wallabies v Springboks: Five takeaways as ‘simply magnificent’ star shines in Socceroo-style victory
There is a worrying trend developing for South Africa as this is the fifth straight Test they have conceded four tries or more and it is also the second time in just over a month they have leaked five tries in an international – the opening Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry loss to New Zealand being the first time they had done in 15 games.
The loss was also the first time in 2026 that Rassie Erasmus’ men had trailed at half-time as they now rest before the Nations Championship resumes in early November.
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World Rugby men’s rankings
1 South Africa 93.09
2 New Zealand 91.15
3 Ireland 88.08
4 France 87.43
5 England 85.68
6 Australia 85.55
7 Scotland 84.78
8 Argentina 82.24
9 Japan 77.28
10 Fiji 76.81
11 Wales 76.38
12 Italy 76.30
13 Georgia 73.94
14 Portugal 69.39
15 USA 67.58
16 Chile 66.94
17 Spain 66.83
18 Uruguay 65.75
19 Tonga 65.14
20 Samoa 64.73
