South Africa, England and Argentina all rise one place in the latest IRB World Rankings after victories in their respective November internationals on Saturday, although it is Bulgaria who claim the honour as the biggest climbers of the week with an eight-place elevation to 82nd.
The Springboks reclaim the second place they lost to Australia during the Tri Nations after edging another tight affair, this time with Wales 29-25 at the Millennium Stadium. The Wallabies slide one place to third following a 35-18 loss to England, who themselves rise to fourth at France’s expense.
France did taste victory over Fiji, but the 34-12 win against a side ranked six places below them did not have any impact on Les Bleus’ rating, meaning they surrender the tag as the leading northern hemisphere nation in the IRB World Rankings to England.
Argentina are the only other movers in the top 10, captain Felipe Contepomi kicking 17 points to help the Pumas to a 22-16 win over Italy in Verona. The victory takes Argentina above Scotland into seventh, despite the Scots not losing any points with an emphatic 49-3 loss to New Zealand.
The All Blacks preserved their unbeaten record against Scotland, recording their biggest victory at Murrayfield in the process, and Australia’s loss means their cushion at the top has grown by more than a point to 6.34 over the new second ranked side South Africa.
Wales remain ninth with the defeat by South Africa, losing half a rating point but still remaining more than three points above Fiji, the side they face at the Millennium Stadium on Friday. Twelfth ranked Italy lost a similar amount and now sit less than a rating point above Japan.
Canada and USA also improved their ratings slightly with victories over Spain (60-22) and Portugal (22-17) respectively, but remain 14th and 15th. There is no positional change for their hosts Spain and Portugal, who remain 23rd and 22nd respectively.
The penultimate qualifier of the Rugby World Cup 2011 process ended in stalemate with Uruguay and Romania drawing 21-21 in Montevideo. The result does not alter their positions of 21st and 19th respectively, although Uruguay do gain just under a tenth.
IRB World Rankings on November 15, 2010
1(1) New Zealand 93.04
2(3) South Africa 86.70
3(2) Australia 85.90
4(5) England 83.61
5(4) France 82.75
6(6) Ireland 81.05
7(8) Argentina 80.33
8(7) Scotland 79.81
9(9) Wales 77.67
10(10) Fiji 74.39
11(11) Samoa 74.02
12(12) Italy 72.35
13(13) Japan 71.45
14(14) Canada 69.62
15(15) Usa 68.50
Still quite a gap between us and the All Blacks..
Did PdV & co not read the script? They’re supposed to ruin Bok rugby.
@McLovin (Comment 2) :
Hehe..
We should always be number one!.. So yes,they are ruining our rugby..from one to three..and now we must dance in the streets and pop champagne corks coz boks are number two..:(
Let’s be honest. Are we truely the second best team in the world at the moment? 1 NZ, 2 ENG 3 AUS 4 SA is what I feel at the moment. Maybe the next two weeks can change my perception
You’re right
@bergshark (Comment 4) : Seriously? Ruining our rugby?
How long have we been ranked no.1 previously under different coaches?
I was talking bout the boks ranking resembling a yo-yo..up and down ..boks should only be perched firmly on top of the rugby world..
I have it against all the coaches(except kitch,his record is how every bok coach’s recrd should read)..(And I liked and still like ian mac as bok coach..but that is sharks bias talking lol)
looking at that gap i think the SB will hv to up their game
Plus the abs are still unbeaten vs irish and scots..
Argentina beat brazil 1-0!! Messi!!!!!!!
Just to dwell on the world rankings: won’t it be great if the usa could get their rugby act together?
What’s the point of these rankings anyway …..do they serve any actual purpose.
Someone enlighten me they must have some function !
Good arti Rich….. gee your posts are getting up there !
….just on ‘Rankings’ Rich where are Tonga aren’t they at the RWC and they always give a good account of themselves.
….the sort of team Morne would guide around with success !
@HH
How you doing mate? The time difference is a real killer!
Don’t the rankings have an effect on how the pools are drawn up for the World Cup?
And Tonga are ranked 16th.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 16) :
Yeah the time difference is not ideal for blogging …still nice to see what you all have been up to when i get up in the morning.
I don;t think that the rankings have anything to do with the pools I think they are determined by how they went at the last RWC….. could be wrong !
….can Scotland get close ?
@Hertford Highlander (Comment 17) :
I’d go for Scotland on any of the handicaps available..
Have you settled in on that side?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 18) :
Well settled ….. nice to be home after so long away !
@Hertford Highlander (Comment 19) :
Good to hear mate..
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 20) :
@Hertford Highlander (Comment 19) : So you WERE in Pommieland?
I’m surprised that Scotland is above Wales in the Rankings
@klempie (Comment 22) :
Yes, 10 years abroad, back home in Dunedin, NZ ….now !
@Pokkel (Comment 23) :
I would think Ireland and Wales are sinking like stones !
@Hertford Highlander (Comment 17) : No the seedings are determined by the rankings, for the first 10 positions or something. The rest are filled by qualifiers from various regions.
@Hertford Highlander (Comment 24) : Phew then I wasn’t going crazy! I was always under the impression that you were in the UK (Hertford), and then the other day when we were having our tiff, you asked if I was “coming over for the WC”, and I thought I’d been wrong all that time.
@klempie (Comment 26) :
But aren’t they taken from the rankings at the end of the previous RWC…..which basically reflects how they performed at the previous RWC.
@klempie (Comment 27) :
No – your not wrong…….. it wasn’t a tiff was it
I see your cricketers are trying to divert the attention !
@Hertford Highlander (Comment 28) : Nope. I think that was the case up until the last WC. My understanding is that they’ve changed that. I’ll wiki to double check.
@klempie (Comment 27) :
Where are you
@klempie (Comment 30) :
It will be interesting when the cut off point is before the RWC for the seedings to be recognised.
Is it 1, 2, or more years out from the event
Hey Klempie! How you doing?
with envy!
Looking forward to thr game on Sat. Mary and some of her friends are making the trip up to Edinburgh…so
@Hertford Highlander (Comment 28) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_World_Cup_qualification
Unlike previous tournaments (where eight teams, the quarter-finalists from the preceding World Cup, qualified automatically and twelve places were available through qualification) the 2011 World Cup will be contested by twelve automatic qualifiers / seeds (the teams who finished in the top three of the groups at the 2007 World Cup) and eight qualifiers
My mistake. Qualification for the next World Cup is determined by the previous one as you said. However, seedings for the next World Cup are based on rankings.
@Hertford Highlander (Comment 29) : It was a tussle.
Cricketers? Drugs?
@klempie (Comment 34) :
Thanx Klempie..
Now we all know!
@klempie (Comment 34) : So actually, we were both right. Cos the original argument was about the makeup of the RWC groups.
@Hertford Highlander (Comment 31) : Blue Bull country.
@Me2 aka Mama Shark (Comment 33) : Hey Mama! Did you see you featured on KSA’s meet the blogger thing?
@Hertford Highlander (Comment 32) : The draw was conducted in December 2008 and used the World Rankings as of 1 December 2008
@klempie (Comment 39) : NO, when was that? I have been very scarse the lat 5 months as I have had a house full of visitors, non stop! Very hard to blog under those conditions
especially as the computer is in the spare room AND one of my guests was using both!!! Poor guy, had to do all his work via the inter net & emails, while he was waitng for his UK visa…took 4 months to get permission to go and live with his wife!! 
@klempie (Comment 40) :
Where were we ranked back then?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 42) : 3rd I think. We’re top of pool C.
@Me2 aka Mama Shark (Comment 41) : Over the weekend. Ice used that pic of you, Kette, KSA, Frisbee and me.
Has the dude managed to get over there now?
@klempie (Comment 43) :
Thanx Klempie.. I am too lazy to Wiki it myself..
@klempie (Comment 44) : Yes, he’s there now…guy just loves where he lives..Lymington..near Southampton…he is a sail designer of note, so yachting is his life….went to Lymington when I was over in April..really enjoyed it…lovely little town
I am so chuffed about Lwazi making the team for Sturday…he was at our table at Ladies Breakfast…really nice young man
@klempie (Comment 44) : How do I find it?
@klempie (Comment 43) :
So for 2015 are the all the particpants solely on the rankings.
So the top 20 ranked teams in the World go to the World Cup and the group are made up accordingly.
Still interested how far out they will make that call surely it could be just 1 year out !
So with next year in mind where are Russia, Georgia, and Namibia ranked….. if Tonga are 16th, they must be 17th, 18th & 19th
with either Uraguay and Romania ranked about 20th
…what happened to Portugal weren’t they at the last RWC …they must be there or there about’s at the moment.
Zimbabwe, and Kenya must be somewhere close to.
…if it solely went on rankings there would be some pretty nervous Northern Hemisphere sides, not wanting to play certain emerging nations.
I also here Tunisia area fairly handy emerging Nation !
@Me2 aka Mama Shark (Comment 47) : Here you go.
http://www.sharksworld.co.za/2010/11/11/the-referee-has-blown-his-whistle/
@Hertford Highlander (Comment 48) :
So for 2015 are the all the particpants solely on the rankings.
No idea. And no, I’m not wikiing it for you.