The All Blacks have regained the No 1 spot in the World Rugby rankings, while the Springboks have dropped to fifth following this past weekend’s World Cup matches.

Before the first round of World Cup pool matches, New Zealand trailed Ireland by 0.07 of a point in the rankings.

And while both sides won their opening clashes with South Africa and Scotland, respectively, the All Blacks moved above Ireland because their opponents were ranked higher than Ireland’s.

England remain in third place, but the Springboks have dropped from fourth to fifth with Wales moving up a spot.

In the bottom half of the top 10, France and Scotland swapped places in seventh and eighth, while Japan moved up to ninth ahead of Fiji, who dropped to 10th.

World Rugby rankings:

1. New Zealand 90.98
2. Ireland 89.93
3. England 88.13
4. Wales 87.32
5. South Africa 85.75
6. Australia 85.07
7. France 81.04
8. Scotland 80.54
9. Japan 76.70
10. Fiji 76.42

Full rankings
How the rankings work

Photo: Steve Haag Sports via Hollywoodbets