South Africa’s national rugby team is now the second best ranked outfit in the world, thanks to its consistent performances at the current 2019 Rugby World Cup tournament taking place in Japan, APA learnt on Monday.
The Springboks’ new ranking follows their victory of the past weekend’s Rugby World Cup semi-finals against Wales, which saw the multi-racial players move up two places in the latest world rugby rankings.
In the semi-finals, England moved to the top after toppling New Zealand 19-7 in a massive upset in Saturday’s match that paved the way for the Roses to book a ticket into the finals to play against South Africa.
The Springboks pushed Wales out of the way by a 19-16 score on Sunday to earn the right to face the Englishmen on 2 November.
The All Blacks of New Zealand have dropped from first to third and Wales have moved down to fourth spot.
Saturday’s final between South Africa and England will determine who will finish the year as the world’s top-ranked team when the dust settles at Yokohama Stadium.
New Zealand faces Wales in Friday’s third place playoff at Tokyo Stadium and this match will also have an impact on the rankings.
Top 20 World Rugby rankings and points are:
1. England 92.29
2. South Africa 90.71
3. New Zealand 89.92
4. Wales 87.21
5. Ireland 84.45
6. Australia 81.90
7. France 80.88
8. Japan 79.28
9. Scotland 79.23
10. Argentina 78.31
11. Fiji 76.21
12. Italy 72.04
13. Tonga 71.44
14. Georgia 71.26
15. Samoa 70.72
16. Spain 68.15
17. USA 68.10
18. Uruguay 67.41
19. Romania 66.69
20. Russia 63.09
NM/jn/APA