South Africa’s lead at the top of the World Rugby rankings has been reduced to just over two points by the All Blacks, while Australia have climbed two places on the list.
Following the completion of the third round of the 2021 Rugby Championship, during which the All Blacks thrashed Argentina 39-0 and the Wallabies shocked the Boks 28-26 in a double-header in Gold Coast, the rankings have undergone a bit of a reshuffle.
New Zealand hadn’t gained any ratings points for their victory, but the Boks were docked two points for losing to Australia, thus closing the gap between themselves and the All Blacks at the top of the rankings to under three points for the first time since 2019.
The Wallabies were promoted from seventh to fifth place in the rankings after gaining two full points for their upset win over the world champions. As a direct result of their elevation, Argentina and France have each dropped one place lower by default.
There were no further movement in the top 10 of the Test rankings.
World Rugby rankings (Top 10):
1. South Africa (92.49 points)
2. New Zealand (90.31)
3. England (85.44)
4. Ireland (84.85)
5. Australia (84.11)
6. France (83.87)
7. Argentina (82.86)
8. Scotland (82.02)
9. Wales (80.59)
10. Japan (79.13)
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Photo: Getty Images
