Springboks climb rankings, while Ireland fall

August 28, 2017
4072
Ultimate Rugby

South Africa move up to third in the World Rugby Rankings, while Hong Kong match their best-ever position on a weekend when New Zealand also retained the Bledisloe Cup.

A fifth straight win for South Africa has taken them above Ireland and up to third in the World Rugby Rankings.

Following on from their 37-15 win over Argentina in Port Elizabeth last week, South Africa completed the double over Los Pumas in The Rugby Championship when they recorded an impressive 41-23 victory in Salta on Saturday.

The Springboks’ highest score since they downed the USA 64-0 at Rugby World Cup 2015 was worth 1.15 points, taking them to a total of 85.66 – just under three tenths more than Ireland.

Los Pumas have only won one of their last eight fixtures and are currently languishing in 10th place in the rankings, on exactly 78 points.

New Zealand are unchanged, on 95.21 points, at the top of the rankings after withstanding a fearsome challenge from a fired-up Australia.

With 11 points and four places between the sides at kick-off, Bledisloe Cup holders New Zealand did not pick up any reward from a rankings perspective and they remain 5.07 points clear of second-placed England.