Northern | US

Springboks equal all time World Rugby rankings low


Springboks name team for Pumas Test (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Comments
Comment

South Africa dropped below Scotland into seventh place in the latest World Rugby rankings, equalling their lowest position since the rankings were introduced in October 2003 – report Rugby 365.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Boks lost 1.48 rating points after their 19-32 loss to Argentina in Mendoza in Round Two of the 2018 Rugby Championship.

The last time the Boks dropped to seventh in the world was in March 2017 when Allister Coetzee was still in charge of the national team.

The Boks are at risk of dropping below 81 ranking points for the first time since 2003. Their current tally stands at 81.84.

Continue reading below…

Video Spacer

Meanwhile, Los Pumas climbed the World Rugby Rankings after breaking their losing streak in home tests.

Saturday’s win lifts Los Pumas above Fiji, into ninth, in the World Rugby Rankings.

The weekend’s other big international saw New Zealand beat Australia 40-12 in Auckland.

New Zealand and Australia’s ranking is unaffected by the result due to the large points differential between the world number one All Blacks and the Wallabies, ranked in fifth.

ADVERTISEMENT
Video Spacer

Stream Nations Championship 2026 LIVE

Hemispheres collide in the new Nations Championship. Stream live, replays and highlights free on RugbyPass TV.

Watch on RPTV
Starts 4th July 2026 - USA only.
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

P
Phantom 32 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



...

14 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Copied to clipboard

Share Article close