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No-shows from England and France in our Six Nations team of the week
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Second-best Springboks left hanging in world rankings
By Jon Newcombe
South Africa will have to wait until November before they get a chance to reclaim their place at the top of the men’s rankings.
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Despite losing 29-28 to Argentina last week, the Springboks will not be rewarded for turning things around in the final round of The Rugby Championship in Nelspruit this Saturday.
The World Rugby points exchange systems works against them on this occasion because with home advantage and 7.47 points and four places separating the teams, a bounce-back victory would not have any impact on their rating.
Even a big turnaround would not lead to an improvement in their rating of 91.77 points, which leaves them currently 0.35 adrift of Ireland.
Ireland replaced them as the official world’s best team when the Springboks fell to the agonising defeat in Santiago del Estero, ending the Springboks’ 13-month unbroken reign at the top as a result.
And they will stay there until test match rugby resumes in November. With the Springboks exclusively playing lower-ranked opposition on their European tour – England (5th), Scotland (7th) and Wales (11th), the reality is that they will need Ireland to slip up to topple them.
Ireland host New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia in a mouth-watering line-up of fixtures in Dublin.
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Victory for Argentina will be enough to lift them above England into fifth place with France also overhauled if they win by more 15 points.
Argentina could climb to third – for the first time since June 2008 – if they win by that margin and Australia beat New Zealand. This would equal their all-time high.
One consolation for Springbok fans is that they are safe in second place even if they lose to Los Pumas for the second consecutive week.
That is because New Zealand are also unable to improve their rating with a Bledisloe Cup II victory over Australia. The All Blacks’ current rating is 9.38 points better than Australia’s before home weighting is factored in.
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However, defeat in the second Bledisloe Cup encounter will see the All Blacks drop one place to fourth with France the beneficiaries.
It is possible for New Zealand to equal their all-time low of fifth if they lose and Argentina go back-to-back against South Africa, although only if one of the margins if by more than 15 points.
Meanwhile, Australia will jump two places to eighth if they avoid defeat against New Zealand in Wellington, a graveyard for the All Blacks in recent years with only win from their last six Tests in the windy city.
