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The number one place in the World Men’s Rugby Rankings could change hands for the third time since Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry began in August.
If it is All black people win this week’s final Test in Baltimore to level the series at 2-2, they will once again be rated as the best team in the world, a status most Springboks would dispute given their back-to-back Rugby World Cups.
New Zealand’s win in the first Test at Ellis Park ended the Springboks’ 11-month reign at the top of the table, but they managed to hold on to that position just a week after they were defeated in the second Test in Cape Town.
Last weekend’s 29-24 win in Soweto pushed the Springboks further up the table, their improved rating of 94.33 points giving them a 2.43 point advantage over the All Blacks.
However, a win for the All Blacks would result in a swing of at least 2.5 points, allowing them to erase the deficit and leapfrog the Springboks.
Alternatively, South Africa could extend their lead at the top to as much as 4.70 points with a good win in Baltimore.
Both this weekend Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup semi-finals also carry ranking points, with the traditionally strongest teams of the competition, Fiji and Japan, in danger of losing ground if they slip against their North American opponents, Canada and the USA.
An unthinkable loss to Canada, their last in 2013 and 15 places behind them in the rankings, will see reigning Pacific Nations Cup champions Fiji drop out of the world’s top 10 for the first time since July 2024.
Likewise, the 2025 runner-up Japan will fall below Georgia to 13 if they lose to a United States side that is riding a four-game winning streak.
While Canada will make some progress in the rankings if they pull off a shock result, USA they will remain in 14th regardless of whether they beat the Brave Blossoms.
A win for either Fiji or Japan will not change the standings of the teams involved.