World Rugby rankings: Springboks’ lead cut by All Blacks
· The South African
The All Blacks have closed the gap on the Springboks in the latest World Rugby rankings following their Bledisloe Cup win over Australia on Saturday.
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Dave Rennie’s New Zealanders beat the Wallabies 43-21 in Sydney on Saturday to wrap up a 2-0 Bledisloe Cup triumph, having won the first match 50-19 in Auckland.
Following their win in Australia, the All Blacks picked up 0.46 ranking points to move to 92.27 points, just 0.82 adrift of the Springboks.
Meanwhile, Australia lost 0.46 points and dropped to seventh place overall.
Updated World Rugby rankings
RankTeamPoints1South Africa93.092New Zealand92.273Ireland88.084France87.435England85.686Scotland84.787Australia84.438Argentina82.249Japan77.2810Fiji76.8111Wales76.3812Italy76.3013Georgia73.9414Portugal69.3915USA67.5816Chile66.9417Spain66.8318Uruguay65.7519Tonga65.1420Samoa64.73‘Character and courage’
Rennie said post-Test that the All Blacks have rediscovered their confidence after responding to their 3-1 series defeat to the Springboks with the two emphatic victories over Australia.
The All Blacks followed produced a strong response after losing Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the world champions.
New Zealand were particularly impressive in the first half, scoring six tries to establish a commanding 36-7 lead at the break.
For Rennie, the performances demonstrated the character and resilience within his squad after a difficult series against South Africa.
“That was excellent,” he said.
“A lot of stuff that we did well last week, we were able to put 40 minutes of that together.”
The coach praised his players’ physicality, ball-carrying, breakdown work and decision-making, which helped New Zealand dominate large portions of the encounter.
“I’m proud of the character and the courage,” Rennie added.
However, he felt the All Blacks could have made the margin even greater had they maintained their first-half accuracy and clinical execution after the interval.
Beauden Barrett delivers reminder of his class
Veteran fullback Beauden Barrett was among New Zealand’s standout performers, scoring two tries in Sydney after limited opportunities during the series against South Africa.
The 147-Test veteran benefited from injuries elsewhere in the squad and made the most of his opportunity, underlining the experience and quality available to Rennie.
The coach was particularly impressed with Barrett’s influence on the team.
“It just highlights how fortunate we are,” Rennie said.
“Beauden’s experience, communication, the quality of his decision-making is excellent. It’s great having him in the mix.”
Barrett’s performance provided a timely boost for New Zealand as they prepare for the next stage of their international campaign.
Injury concerns cloud All Blacks revival
Despite the back-to-back victories, New Zealand still face significant selection concerns ahead of their European fixtures next month.
The All Blacks were already without several key players for the Sydney Test, including Ardie Savea, Leroy Carter, Caleb Clarke, Ruben Love and Richie Mo’unga.
Further concerns emerged after Shannon Frizell and Samisoni Taukei’aho sustained knocks.
The extent of those injuries will influence Rennie’s selection decisions as he looks to maintain the momentum generated by the victories over Australia.
While the Wallabies results have restored confidence, New Zealand will need to demonstrate that they can sustain their improved performances against stronger opposition.
Codie Taylor explains All Blacks response
Captain Codie Taylor said the squad had taken an honest look at itself following the defeat to South Africa.
Although the 3-1 series result left the players disappointed, Taylor said they believed there were positive elements in their performances against the Springboks that could provide a foundation for improvement.
“We had an honest look at ourselves after that RGR, and you know, as always, you’re never satisfied and we probably walked away from that pretty gutted,” he said.
“But also knowing that we were playing a brand of rugby that we could be really proud of and really grow on.”
Taylor said winning the Bledisloe Cup and following it with another convincing performance in Sydney had helped restore confidence within the squad.
He also acknowledged the mental challenge of meeting the standards expected of the All Blacks.
“I thought we did that for majority of the game, so really proud of the lads,” he said.
The two victories over Australia provide New Zealand with renewed momentum after their series defeat to the Springboks.
However, their upcoming European campaign will offer another opportunity to measure their progress against international opposition.