Updated rankings: All Blacks close the gap on Springboks
· The South African
The All Blacks are within touching distance of the Springboks at the top of the World Rugby rankings.
The Springboks maintained their grip on the world No. 1 ranking after producing a dominant 43-0 victory over Wales at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday evening.
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Earlier in the day, the All Blacks extended their remarkable unbeaten run at Eden Park with a commanding 40-21 victory over Ireland in Auckland.
Australia bounced back in emphatic fashion with a 57-10 win over Italy, to give Joe Schmidt a final send off. Meanwhile, France defeated Japan 42-15 in Tokyo and Scotland beat Fiji 33-18.
SPRINGBOKS MAINTAIN THEIR LEAD AT THE TOP AS ALL BLACK CLOSE THE GAP
The Springboks remain the world’s top-ranked side on 93.96 points after their emphatic victory over Wales.
South Africa did not gain any ranking points despite the convincing win, due to the fact that Wales are ranked 11th in the world.
The biggest movement at the top came in Auckland, where the All Blacks defeated Ireland 40-21.
New Zealand earned 1.24 ranking points to climb to 92.28. Consequently, Ireland surrendered the same amount of points to drop to 88.08. As a result, the All Blacks narrowed the gap on the Springboks to just 1.68 points, while extending their advantage over the Irish.
Australia also enjoyed a rankings boost after routing Italy 57-10.
The Wallabies gained 1.01 ranking points to improve to 81.61, strengthening their hold on eighth place. Italy surrendered 1.01 points, dropping to 76.30 and slipping two places from 10th to 12th.
France (fourth) remained fourth on 87.43 after defeating 10th ranked Japan 42-15. Les Bleus neither gained nor lost ranking points following their comfortable victory in Tokyo. This is due to the vast disparity between the two in the World Rankings. Japan rose up one spot thanks to Australia demolishing Italy.
Meanwhile, Scotland and England improved their rankings points with win over Fiji and Argentina respectively.
Finally, the Springboks smashed Wales 43-0 at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday evening. They could not add to their points tally, but ensured they maintain top spot in the latest World Rugby rankings. The Boks sit on 93.96 points at the top of world rugby.