The World Rugby rankings remain unchanged after completion of the opening round of the 2019 Rugby Championship tournament.
South Africa ran in five tries as they cruised to a 35-17 victory over Australia at Ellis Park on Saturday. The Boks’ bonus-point win earned them a 0.72 rating-point increase from 84.58 to 85.30.
That boost means the Springboks are now just 0.97 behind Eddie Jones’ fourth-ranked England.
The Wallabies were docked 0.72 of a rating point from 82.40 to 81.68. The deduction moves the seventh-ranked Scotland within 1.51 of Australia.
The result between the All Blacks and Argentina in Buenos Aires had no impact on either side’s rating because they are ranked too far apart.
World Rugby rankings:
1. New Zealand 92.54
2. Wales 89.96
3. Ireland 88.69
4. England 86.27
5. South Africa 85.30
6. Australia 81.68
7. Scotland 80.17
8. France 79.42
9. Fiji 77.95
10. Argentina 77.05
Full rankings
How the rankings work
Photo: Christiaan Kotze/BackpagePix
