New Zealand drop to fourth place in World Rugby Rankings

Sam Cane was sin-binned during New Zealand’s game against South Africa
©PA
New Zealand have dropped to the fourth position in the World Rugby Rankings following their defeat to South Africa in the Rugby World Cup warm-up fixture at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Siya Kolisi, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Malcolm Marx, Mbongeni Mbonambi and Kwagga Smith scored tries as the Boks stunned Ian Foster’s men with a 35-7 victory in what would be their final warm-up fixture leading to the showpiece event.

The result meant Jacques Nienaber’s men have gained 1.71 rating points taking their tally to 91.08 as they climbed from third place to second position. They now trail top placed Ireland by just 0.74 rating points.

The defeat saw New Zealand drop down from second place to fourth with France making a climb to third place following their victory over Australia.

Meanwhile, England’s defeat against Fiji has costed them two place as they now slip to the eighth place in the table with the Pacific side moving to seventh after gaining a rating point of 1.58 with the Wallabies slipping to ninth place.

World Rugby Top 10 Rankings:

Rank Team Rating Points
1 Ireland 91.82
2 South Africa 91.08
3 France 89.22
4 New Zealand 89.06
5 Scotland 84.01
6 Argentina 80.86
7 Fiji 80.28
8 England 79.95
9 Australia 79.87
10 Wales 78.26

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