Boks hold on to third spot

The Springboks will finish the year in third place in the World Rugby rankings after beating Argentina 24-13 in London.

South Africa's total increased by 1.64 rankings points from 86.02 to 87.66. But while they have moved to within 1.67 points of the Wallabies, Heyneke Meyer's side is a massive 8.44 adrift of arch-rivals, the All Blacks.

That's because the world champions consolidated their position at the summit of the rankings with a 2.43 points hike following last Saturday's 34-17 victory over the Wallabies, who in turn suffered a 2.42 points decrease.

In the only positional change, defeat to the Boks saw Argentina's points tally reduced by 1.65, with Wales the beneficiary of the deduction as they rise above Los Pumas to fourth.

World Rugby rankings (Top 20)

1. New Zealand 96.1
2. Australia 89.33
3. South Africa 87.66
4. Wales 83.49
5. Argentina 82.59
6. Ireland 81.17
7. France 79.77
8. England 79.77
9. Scotland 77.94
10. Japan 77.05
11. Fiji 76.96
12. Italy 72.74
13. Tonga 71.60
14. Georgia 71.45
15. Samoa 70.36
16. USA 68.66
17. Romania 66.59
18. Canada 62.65
19. Uruguay 62.11
20. Namibia 61.75
Full rankings 
How the rankings work

Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images

Post by

Mariette Adams