All Blacks close in on nine-year rankings high ahead of Cape Town rematch with Springboks

New Zealand sit on the cusp of a nine-year rankings milestone after their 33-16 victory over South Africa at Ellis Park last weekend, with a second consecutive win over the Springboks in Cape Town this Saturday set to push them beyond 95 World Rugby ranking points for the first time since August 2017.

The defeat ended South Africa’s bid to match their record 98-week unbroken reign at the top of the rankings — a run set between 2019 and 2021. The Boks had been closing in on a full year at number one before the loss demoted them to second, where they now trail New Zealand by 1.82 points.

A convincing All Blacks win — one that mirrors or exceeds last week’s 17-point margin — would leave New Zealand on 95.26 ranking points and South Africa second on 90.98, a gap of 4.28 points. The last time New Zealand broke the 95-point barrier was on 21 August 2017, when they beat Australia 54-34 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

For South Africa, the Cape Town fixture offers an immediate route back to the summit. A revenge win by more than 15 points would flip the current deficit into a 1.72-point advantage, restoring them to first place. A narrower victory would also return them to top spot, though the margin of the All Blacks’ defeat last week means the Boks need a substantial performance to fully reverse the points swing.

Elsewhere in the rankings, Australia and Argentina meet in Jujuy with seventh and eighth place at stake. Only 1.51 points separate the two sides, and a fourth consecutive Test win for the Wallabies — their first such streak since the 2023-24 season — would see them leapfrog Los Pumas into seventh.

Argentina, for their part, cannot climb above seventh even with a win, but a victory over Australia for the third time in four meetings would close the gap on Scotland in sixth to just 0.22 ranking points, keeping the pressure on the upper half of the standings.

Current World Rugby Men’s Rankings — Top 10

1. New Zealand — 94.03
2. South Africa — 92.21
3. Ireland — 88.08
4. France — 87.43
5. England — 85.68
6. Scotland — 84.78
7. Argentina — 83.13
8. Australia — 82.67
9. Fiji — 78.00
10. Wales — 76.38