Boks retain rankings race lead
Last night's loss against Ireland has seen the Springboks' ranking points cut, but not by enough for Ireland to take the top spot.
The Springboks have held onto their place as the world’s number-one-ranked team after the drawn series with Ireland.
A 25-24 victory for the second-ranked Ireland in a Durban thriller levelled the two-Test series after the Boks won by seven points in Pretoria last week.
MORE: Boks weren’t good enough to beat Irish
The result at Kings Park has seen South Africa’s lead at the top of World Rugby’s Test rankings cut, but not by enough to allow Ireland to overtake the world champions.
The Springboks have been penalised 1,75 ranking points in defeat, but still lead Ireland, albeit by a much tighter margin, with the tourists gaining 1,75 ranking points for winning.
Meanwhile, the other big change in the top ten has seen Italy leapfrog Australia into eighth place, despite the Wallabies fighting to a 2-0 series win over Wales.
RASSIE: Sacha showed he belongs
Joe Schmidt’s side only gained 0,54 ranking points for their win in Melbourne on Saturday against Warren Gatland’s struggling Wales, who remain outside the top 10 after a run of nine straight defeats.
Italy bounced back from a surprise defeat to Samoa by comfortably beating Tonga in the capital Nuku’alofa, with 0,99 rankings points allowing them to overtake the Wallabies.
The post Boks retain rankings race lead appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
