Updated rankings after Springboks power past All Blacks

The Springboks claimed a 43-28 victory over New Zealand to claim the inaugural Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry title in Baltimore, ultimately finishing as 3-1 victors after bouncing back following a humbling defeat in the opening encounter.

On Saturday, the Springboks scored six tries to four to claim a comfortable win in front of a USA rugby record crowd of more than 68,000 – the majority of whom appeared to be expatriate South Africans.

Besides seeing the Springboks add yet another piece of silverware to their trophy cabinet, the latest result also enabled Rassie Erasmus’ team to gain another 0.76 rankings points.

South Africa now have a buffer of 3.94 points over the All Blacks in the updated rankings.

Meanwhile, in a Pacific Nations Cup semi-final match between Japan and USA in Higashiosaka, Osaka, it was the hosts who claimed a comprehensive 63-14.

UPDATED WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS AFTER SPRINGBOKS WIN SERIES

Rank	Country	Points
1	South Africa	95.09
2	New Zealand	91.15
3	Ireland	88.08
4	France	87.43
5	England	85.68
6	Scotland	84.78
7	Australia	83.55
8	Argentina	82.24
9	Fiji	78.00
10	Wales	76.38
11	Italy	76.30
12	Japan	76.09
13	Georgia	73.94
14	USA	69.49
15	Portugal	69.39
16	Chile	66.94
17	Spain	66.83
18	Uruguay	65.75
19	Tonga	65.14
20	Samoa	64.73

The win confirmed the world ranked number status of the back-to-back world champions, which Rassie Erasmus conceded was not always easy for others to accept.

“I know we sometimes annoy other people around the world for the way go about things, or the angle we take on issues, but we really care the most about South African people,” he said.

“We enjoy the other people around the world, and we understand their opinions and love the banter, but there’s only one reason for us as a team and for us as a country, it’s for South Africa.”

The match was in the balance until the final quarter and although the Springboks won three successive matches to claim the title, Erasmus said the margins between the teams were minimal.

“I wouldn’t say we were the better team. At 60 minutes the game was still in the balance. We appreciate that we won but the margin between us and New Zealand is very small.”

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry fixtures and results

• Friday, 7 August: Stormers 21-38 New Zealand, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
• Tuesday, 11 August: Sharks 0-54 New Zealand, Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
• Saturday, 15 August: Bulls 19-50 New Zealand, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
• Saturday, 22 August: First Test, Springboks 16-33 New Zealand, Ellis Park, Johannesburg
• Tuesday, 25 August: Lions 35-41 New Zealand, Ellis Park, Johannesburg
• Saturday, 29 August: Springboks 33-26 New Zealand, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
• Saturday, 5 September: Springboks 29-24 New Zealand, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg – 17:10
• Saturday, 12 September: Springboks 43-28 All Blacks, Fourth Test, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, United States