Springboks reach record 95-point ranking high after dismantling All Blacks 43-28 in Baltimore

South Africa climbed to an all-time high of 95.09 World Rugby ranking points after dismantling New Zealand 43-28 in Baltimore on Saturday, sealing a 3-1 series win in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry fixture and extending their lead over the All Blacks to 3.95 points.

The margin between the two sides stood at 2.44 points heading into the series finale, but South Africa’s dominant display — which carried a winning margin of 15 points for much of the match — inflated the gap significantly when the updated rankings are published by World Rugby on Monday.

The Springboks’ score of 95.09 is unprecedented. It eclipses the 94.20 points they held when they lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in 2019, the 94.54 they registered after their 2023 World Cup triumph in Paris, and the 90.82 they sat on following their 2007 title. Even their record 98-week uninterrupted run at the top between November 2019 and September 2021 never produced a score above 95.

The record could have been even higher. World Rugby awards additional ranking points for victories where the winning margin exceeds 15 points, and South Africa would have achieved their highest score in five years — since July 2021 — had All Blacks veteran Beauden Barrett not crossed for a consolation try late in the match. That score kept the final margin at 15, denying the Springboks the bonus that would have come with a 16-point or greater win.

The result leaves New Zealand on 91.15 points in second place, with Ireland third on 88.08 and France fourth on 87.43.

The scale of South Africa’s rise under head coach Rassie Erasmus is underlined by where the team stood when he took charge. When Erasmus lost his first match — also on American soil, against Wales in June 2018 — the Springboks were seventh in the world on just 82.78 points. They have now held the top ranking on ten separate occasions since the system was introduced 23 years ago, six of those coming in the last five years.