World Rankings: Springboks, NZ RISE! Ireland and France FALL!

The Springboks and All Blacks have RISEN. In contrast, Ireland and France have FALLEN. Here are the latest World Rugby rankings.

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Two Rugby World Cup classics took place this weekend. On Sunday evening, the Springboks eliminated hosts France after beating the hosts 29-28 in an absolute thriller in Paris.

24 hours earlier, the All Blacks shocked Ireland by beating them 28-24 in another nail-biting and enthralling contest. Both contests were monumental and they both have the same consequences – World Cup elimination and a drop in the latest world rankings for the northern hemisphere. In contrast, qualification into the Rugby World Cup semi-finals and ascension for South Africa and New Zealand.

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SPRINGBOKS ON TOP OF THE WORLD IN LATEST WORLD RANKINGS

The Springoks are back on top of the world and they have an impressive 92.48 rating.

They went from third to first as a result of knocking out hosts France who, in turn, have gone from second to fourth. Meanwhile, the mighty All Blacks (90.91) have climbed up to second spot. Furthermore, Ireland (90.57) have dropped from first to third.

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The Springboks and All Blacks are expected to further extend their gap over Ireland and France if they reach the Rugby World Cup final.

Moreover, the Boks are largely expected to beat England. New Zealand are clear favourites to beat Argentina.

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It is unfortunate that the draw was done early, resulting in a lob-sided affair. The top four sides all had to compete against each other in the quarter-finals when, in all likeliness, they all would have probably made the semi-finals.

In terms of the world rankings, this means the losers of those titanic quarter-finals, Ireland and France, are likely to have a bit of a gap between themselves and the Boks and NZ come the end of the global showpiece in France. Thankfully, World Rugby will be doing the draw closer to the RWC in the future to prevent this.

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