Springboks surrender top spot in the world rankings, Australia drop to joint all-time low

The Springboks’ loss to Argentina in the Rugby Championship has seen them surrender the top spot in the World Rugby rankings.

Rassie Erasmus’ charges fell to a 29-28 defeat to Los Pumas in Santiago del Estero in round five of the tournament, a result that not only denied them the title with a week to spare but also saw them drop in the world rankings.

Meanwhile, the result for Argentina saw them climb the rankings moving ahead of Scotland.

Springboks lose top spot in the World Rugby Rankings

Tries from Mateo Carreras, Pablo Matera, Joel Sclavi and Tomas Alboronoz steered Argentina to a 29-28 victory over the Springboks handing South Africa their first defeat in the 2024 Rugby Championship.

The Boks had the opportunity to seal a win when Manie Libbok lined up a late penalty but his effort went wide and ultimately saw South Africa surrender their number one world ranking.

South Africa headed into the fixture with 93.58 rating points but the defeat saw them lose 1.81 points, enough to see Ireland reclaim the top spot in the world rankings for the first time since their Rugby World Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of the All Blacks.

Meanwhile, Argentina earned 1.81 rating points for the victory over the world champions which has seen them move into sixth place with Scotland dropping to seventh.

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In the earlier kick-off in the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks held out for a nervy 28-31 victory over Australia in Sydney.

Like South Africa, New Zealand raced out a massive lead with Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane and Caleb Clarke crossing the whitewash in the opening 15 minutes. Scott Robertson’s side would lead 14-31 at the break and added just three points in the second half with Argentina scoring two tries to set up a tense finish.

Ultimately, New Zealand held on for the win which has seen them strengthen their stronghold on third place and sent Australia down to their joint-worst world ranking.

In the last year, the Wallabies have twice been ranked 10th overall and have returned to that ranking after losing 0.46 rating points. Their result paired with Fiji’s emphatic 41-17 victory over Japan in the Pacific Nations Cup final has seen the Pacific Islanders move up to ninth spot.

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Fiji ran in five tries to Eddie Jones side’s two to seal a sixth Pacific Nations Cup title. Japan now slip below Samoa who defeated the USA 13-18 in the third-place playoff and have subsequently moved up to 14th place.

The Fijians now have Italy in their sights as they are just 0.34 rating points behind the Azzuri who are in eighth place.

Latest World Rankings as of 22/09/2024

1 Ireland 92.12
2 South Africa 91.77
3 New Zealand 88.70
4 France 86.96
5 England 85.40
6 Argentina 84.30
7 Scotland 82.82
8 Italy 79.98
9 Fiji 79.64
10 Australia 79.32
11 Wales 76.04
12 Georgia 74.10
13 Samoa 72.68
14 Japan 72.22
15 Portugal 70.61
16 Tonga 67.78
17 Uruguay 67.39
18 Spain 66.29
19 USA 65.70
20 Romania 62.62

READ MORE: Argentina v South Africa: Five takeaways as ‘incredible’ Los Pumas bag historic win over ‘unbalanced’ Springboks