The Springboks consolidated their spot at the top of World Rugby’s latest rankings with an impressive win over Ireland in Pretoria on Saturday.
Rassie Erasmus’ side outscored their opponents two tries to three to secure a 27-20 victory at the Loftus Versfeld stadium, making a strong start to this weekend’s second Test in Durban.
Extending the lead at the top
With Saturday’s win, the world champion further extended his lead atop the rankings over his biggest rivals, the players from the Emerald Isle.
Andy Farrell’s side are currently 4.50 points behind the Springboks, while New Zealand and France are not far behind in third and fourth place after wins over England and Argentina respectively.
The Red Roses are in fifth place despite their loss to the All Blacks, Scotland are in sixth place after beating Canada 73-13 in Ottawa and Los Pumas are seventh.
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Meanwhile, Saturday’s defeat to Australia in Sydney was a huge blow for Wales, who have dropped to their lowest ever position in the world rankings – 11th.
The 25–16 defeat meant Warren Gatland’s side had lost an eighth consecutive test match, and the loss to Joe Schmidt’s Wales saw them drop out of the top 10 in the World Rugby rankings for the first time.
Bad record
This latest defeat means Wales have now lost 14 of 20 test matches during Gatland’s second tenure in charge.
They are currently the only tier one nation languishing outside the top 10 in the World Rugby rankings, having swapped places with Fiji, who beat Georgia 21-12 in Batumi on Saturday.
The win sees the Wallabies move up to eighth in the rankings, while Italy drop to ninth after a 33-25 defeat to Samoa in Apia at the weekend.
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World Rugby Rankings as of 1 July 2024
1 South Africa 94.86
2. Ireland 90.37
3. New Zealand 90.12
4. France 88.49
5 England 85.66
6 Scotland 82.82
7. Argentina 80.10
8. Australia 78.15
9 Italy 77.99
10 Fiji 77.44
11 Wales 76.58
12 Japan 74.04
13 Samoa 73.65
14 Georgia 72.95
15 Tonga 71.57
16 Portugal 70.28
17 Uruguay 67.39
18 United States 66.01
19 Spain 64.37
20 Romania 63.59