The Springboks have consolidated their position at the top of World Rugby’s latest ranking after the clinched an impressive victory over Ireland in Pretoria on Saturday.
Rassie Erasmus’ troops were full value for their 27-20 win as they outscored their visitors by three tries to two at Loftus Versfeld and sets them up nicely ahead of the second Test in Durban this weekend.
Extended their lead at the top
Saturday’s victory extended the world champions’ lead at the top of the rankings over their closest rivals, the men from the Emerald Isle.
Andy Farrell’s charges are now 4.50 points adrift of the Springboks, while New Zealand and France are not far behind in third and fourth positions, after registering victories over England and Argentina respectively.
Despite their defeat to the All Blacks, the Red Rose occupy fifth position while Scotland are in sixth spot, following their 73-13 thrashing of Canada in Ottowa, with Los Pumas in seventh place.
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Meanwhile, Saturday’s defeat to Australia in Sydney have proved costly for Wales as they have dropped down to 11th spot in the World rankings, which is their lowest-ever position.
Wales suffered a 25-16 defeat which means Warren Gatland‘s side have now lost eight Tests in a row. That defeat to Joe Schmidt’s men means they have dropped outside the top 10 in World Rugby’s rankings list for the first time.
Poor record
Their latest defeat also means Wales have now lost 14 out of 20 Tests during Gatland’s second stint as head coach.
They are the only Tier One nation that are currently languishing outside the top 10 positions of World Rugby’s rankings and have swapped places with Fiji, who sealed a 21-12 victory over Georgia in Batumi on Saturday.
The Wallabies’ win sees them occupying eighth position in the rankings while Italy are in ninth place after they were beaten 33-25 by 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 USA 66.01
19 Spain 64.37
20 Romania 63.59
