World Rugby rankings: Where Springboks will stand after Saturday

The Springboks will be desperate to secure a bonus-point victory against at Ellis Park on Saturday, although it’s unlikely to be enough to clinch the Rugby Championship title.

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If the All Blacks claim an expected win over Australia earlier in the day, the Kiwis will once again wrap up the title in a confidence booster before the fast approaching World Cup.

World Rugby has published the ranking permutations for this weekend’s international matches, and unfortunately for the Springboks, they’re set to remain in fourth place in all likelihood.

As it stands, the All Blacks, France and Ireland are all ahead of the Boks, and that will be at least cause for a bit of frustration.

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HOW MIGHT THE RANKINGS PERMUTATIONS IMPACT THE SPRINGBOKS AND OTHERS?

Permutation highlights:

• Ten of the top 15 nations in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings powered by Capgemini are in action this weekend.
• New Zealand in third are the highest-ranked team in action this weekend and it will stay that way unless they lose to Australia by more than 15 points in Melbourne and South Africa also defeat Argentina, by any margin, in Johannesburg.
• Any form of win for the All Blacks will be enough for them to wipe out the narrow gap between themselves and France and move up to second place at Les Bleus’ expense.
• A Bledisloe Cup win by more than 15 points would close the gap on first place Ireland to only 1.05 points.
• Australia cannot slip any lower than their present position of eighth but there is the potential for them to climb by as many as three places to fifth if they win by a big enough margin and other results go their way.
• With only two-hundredths of a point available to them in victory, it is not possible for South Africa to improve on fourth place in their own right, they must hope that New Zealand drop rating points as well.
• Argentina’s hold on seventh place is dependent on how Australia fare. A defeat for Los Pumas combined with a win for Australia will result in a fall to eighth – unless Scotland lose at home to Italy.
• A rare win over the Springboks will send Argentina up to fifth – their highest position since June 2016 – with the gap between the two teams down to less than a point if they win by more than 15 points.

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HOW THE RANKINGS LOOK RIGHT NOW:

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