There was little change in the International Rugby Board’s rankings after the weekend’s matches, according to the IRB website.
New Zealand, who beat England 28-27 in Dunedin to secure the three-match series, remain at the top with 93.81 ratings points.
The Springboks, who beat Wales 38-16 in Durban, stay in 2nd position on 89.34, while Australia – who were 6-0 victors over France in Melbourne – stay in 3rd position (86.92) ahead of England (85.68).
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Lower down the rankings table, Fiji rose one place after beginning the defence of their Pacific Nations Cup title with a 45-17 win over Tonga.
The six tries to two victory in Lautoka saw them awarded 1.31 rankings points and takes them from 11th to 10th in the standings.
Fiji are hoping to fill one of the two remaining spots in Pool A at next year’s World Cup alongside host nation England, Australia and Wales and the Repechage winner.
Argentina moved down two in the rankings to 11th, behind Samoa and Fiji, after suffering a second straight loss on home soil to Ireland (17-23).
Since the rankings began some 11 years ago, Argentina have never been lower than their current position of 11th.
Otherwise the top 20 remains unchanged in terms of positions, although Australia, with a gain of 0.01 points, Ireland (0.58), Scotland (0.71), Japan (0.49) and Romania (0.12) did improve their points total.
Samoa’s 15-0 win over 14th-placed Italy left the Azzurri in danger of slipping to their lowest ever ranking position unless they arrest a run of eight straight defeats.
In contrast, Japan made it nine wins on the trot with an entertaining 37-29 win over the USA in Carson, California, and Romania’s bid to clinch a hat-trick of IRB Nations Cup titles got off to a successful start with a 34-16 win over Uruguay in Bucharest.
Top 10 in the latest IRB world rankings:
- New Zealand 93.81
- South Africa 89.34
- Australia 86.92
- England 85.68
- Ireland 83.44
- Wales 80.70
- France 80.03
- Scotland 76.63
- Samoa 75.60
- Fiji 75.56