Ireland leapfrog South Africa in world rankings after Eden Park loss

Ireland have leaped ahead of South Africa in the latest world men’s rankings after round three of the Rugby Championship.

New Zealand maintain their lead as world number one with 91.35 points after beating South Africa 24-17 at Eden Park over the weekend.

The loss was enough for South Africa to drop into third with 89.38, while Ireland jumped back up into second place with 89.83.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus masterfully sidesteps a tricky question about match officials

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus masterfully sidesteps a tricky question about match officials

While the Irish were stormed by France in this year’s Six Nations campaign, Ireland has won four of the last five Tests against South Africa, including an incredible 25-24 win in Durban last July which levelled their two-match series.

Ireland host South Africa in Dublin in November for what will be one of the Tests of the year, with the trip presenting the ‘final frontier’ for the double Rugby World Cup winners. During the Erasmus-Neinaber era, the Springboks have not beat Ireland in Ireland.

Australia (6th) were already ranked above Argentina (7th) headed into the weekend and were able to widen their gap with a last-gasp 28-24 victory in Townsville.

The bold call to turn down three chances at tying game paid off for Schmidt’s Wallabies when Angus Bell crashed over for the winning score.

The Rugby Championship reaches a tipping point in round four, Australia and New Zealand have their noses in front while Argentina and South Africa are fighting for their title hopes.

New Zealand host South Africa in Wellington while Australia host Argentina in Sydney.

Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup action saw Japan hand USA a heavy 47-21 defeat, leading to USA dropping in the rankings to 19th and being surpassed by Portugal.

Fiji’s 29-15 win over Samoa handed Tonga qualification for Rugby World Cup 2027, while Tonga were able to move past Uruguay in the rankings.

Despite Los Teros losing to their South American rivals Chile by 21-18, they were able to win qualification through their aggregate 46-37 advantage in Sudaméricano.

Chile’s World Cup hopes are still alive and they will find out their next opponent in the South America/Pacific play-off after this weekend. They will face either Samoa, Canada or USA in that two-legged play-off.

Samoa can still qualify for the 2027 Rugby World Cup if they win this weekend against USA.