World Rankings: New Zealand and Australia could fall to record lows

World Rugby has published the ranking permutations for the opening round of The Rugby Championship 2022 this weekend.

Ahead of the opening round of the competition, South Africa are the highest ranked of the four nations sitting in third place overall. New Zealand are ranked fourth, their lowest ever ranking since they were introduced, while Australia and Argentina are ranked sixth and ninth respectively.

Nelspruit will host the opening game of the competition with the Springboks heading into the test knowing that even a victory by more than 15 points over the All Blacks will not improve their third-place ranking. In the case of a 15-point or more win for the Boks, their rating will show the same as France at 89.41 but Les Bleus rating is higher when rounding up to three decimal places.

However, a loss of more than 15 points will see New Zealand drop to a new low of fifth with England moving ahead of the All Blacks.

A win of any kind will see Ian Foster's side climb above South Africa in third while a draw will see both sides retain their rankings with New Zealand closing the gaps on the Boks.

Over to Mendoza where Los Pumas can climb two ranking positions with a win over the Wallabies. Michael Cheika's side would climb two places into seventh with Scotland moving into sixth, Wales into ninth and Australia falling to a new low of eighth.

Dave Rennie's charges could drop as low as ninth if they fall to a defeat by more than 15 points while an Australian victory will not result in any positional changes for either team.

A draw will also have not impact on the rankings.

THE RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2022

SOUTH AFRICA (3) 88.61 v NEW ZEALAND (4) 86.93

South Africa win by 15 points or less – South Africa 89.14, New Zealand 86.40
South Africa win by more than 15 points – South Africa 89.41, New Zealand 86.25
Draw – South Africa 88.14, New Zealand 87.40
New Zealand win by 15 points or less – South Africa 87.14, New Zealand 88.40
New Zealand win by more than 15 points – South Africa 86.41, New Zealand 89.13

ARGENTINA (9) 80.45 v AUSTRALIA (6) 82.17

Argentina win by 15 points or less – Argentina 81.32, Australia 81.30
Argentina win by more than 15 points – Argentina 81.76, Australia 80.86
Draw – Argentina 80.32, Australia 82.30
Australia win by 15 points or less – Argentina 79.32, Australia 83.30
Australia win by more than 15 points – Argentina 78.76, Australia 83.86

CURRENT WORLD RANKINGS