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After completing a 3-1 win in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series following their emphatic 43-28 victory over All black people on Saturday in Baltimore, South Africa pulled further more clearly at the top World Rugby Rankings.
The Springboks held a 2.44-point lead over the All Blacks in the series final, but that has now grown to 3.95 points – the biggest since July 2024.
With more ranking points awarded for wins where the margin exceeds 15 points, South Africa’s lead would have been its biggest in five years since July 2021 had they not allowed All Blacks veteran Beauden Barrett to cross for a consolation try at the death.
Instead, the Springboks will find themselves on 95.09 points when World Rugby officially updates the rankings on Monday (12:00 BST), having gained 0.75 points, while the All Blacks will drop to second place on 91.15 points.
The Springboks have held the top spot in the rankings on 10 separate occasions since they were introduced 23 years ago – four before their post-Covid return to the game and six times in the past five years.
But their score had never been higher than 95 points before, even when they won Rugby World Cup 2007, 2019 and 2023, nor when they went on a record 98-week continuous run between November 2019 and September 2021.
When they lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in Paris in 2007, they were rated 90.82 points. In 2019, their score was 94.20 points, and in 2023, it rose to 94.54 points.
It touched 94.86 points in early July 2024 after they beat a strong Ireland team at Loftus Versfeld, but that was for the best, as they lost 25-24 in the second leg in Durban the following week.
To underline the success of Rassie Erasmus leading the rankings, South Africa were ranked seventh with a paltry 82.78 points when they lost their first match in charge against Wales, also in the United States, in early June 2018.
Updated world ranking Top 12
1. South Africa – 95.09
2. New Zealand – 91.15
3. Ireland – 88.08
4. France – 87.43
5. England – 85.68
6. Scotland – 84.68
7. Australia – 83.55
8. Argentina – 82.25
9. Fiji – 78.00
10. Wales – 76.38
11. Italy – 76.30
12. Japan – 76.09
