With the victory by the Springboks over Australia at the weekend, the gap between the Springboks and the All Blacks on the IRB World Rankings has been closed to only 2.7 points.
At the start of last week the points gap was 4.35 and after the match on Saturday only 2.7.
With the Springboks first win in Brisbane in 40 years, which in itself was a major achievement, the bigger picture is that the Springboks are now only 2.8 point away from being ranked the number 1 team in world rugby.
If the Springboks could manage another win against the All Blacks, one like they did last weekend against the Wallabies, this status could be achieved by this weekend.
The Springboks and All Blacks are both undefeated in this year’s Rugby Championship, however the All Blacks win last weekend over the Pumas, of 28 / 13 had no effect in their ranking points.
The 5th placed Wallabies, with the poor from they are in, has seen the gap between them and 6th placed France close as well. Should the French pass the Wallabies in the world rankings, the Wallabies will see themselves in their lowest position since 2003.
IRB World Rankings
1 New Zealand 91.64
2 South Africa 88.94
3 England 85.76
4 Australia 83.67
5 France 81.59
6 Wales 81.36
7 Samoa 80.42
8 Ireland 79.58
9 Scotland 76.95
10 Argentina 76.41
11 Tonga 74.77
12 Italy 74.17
13 Fiji 73.56
14 Canada 72.68
15 Japan 71.98
16 Georgia 67.66
17 Romania 66.18
18 United States 64.91
19 Russia 61.99
20 Spain 60.44