Wales declare Ireland No 1, snubbing the Springboks

Jonathan Davies snubbed the Springboks by rating them below Ireland in the Test rugby pecking order, despite the fact that South Africa are the No 1 ranked team in the official World Rugby rankings and Rugby World Cup champions.

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Heading into the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Ireland were firm title favourites alongside the tournament hosts France. And yet, both were sensationally knocked out in the quarter-finals by eventual finalists the Springboks and All Blacks, respectively.

The Springboks ultimately beat New Zealand by a point in the title deciding match to be crowned world champions and also to regain the No 1 spot in the Test rankings.

Since then, Ireland have returned to action in the Six Nations, where they’ve beaten France and Italy in the opening two rounds.

IRELAND, NOT SPRINGBOKS, ARE BEST IN THE WORLD

The high-flying Irish next face Wales at home in Dublin and a certain section of the Welsh media has already written their Test team off in favour of Ireland.

One of them is Davies, who wrote in his WalesOnline column that Ireland deserve the ‘best team in the world’ tag.

“For me, Ireland’s the best side in the world at the moment. We haven’t seen New Zealand or the Springboks play since the World Cup, so I think Ireland deserve that tag,” the 61-year-old wrote.

“They’ve got real rugby intelligence – they all know what they’re doing. The way they attack the defence, with short passes and running in pairs. There’s a bit of rugby league to what they do.

“We know how good they are and how clinical they are. They’re so well-coached and they have such rugby intelligence,” he wrote.

“If you look at the system in place, when someone comes in, they fit in seamlessly. Their new flyhalf, Jack Crowley, has done exactly that, just when it seemed that Johnny Sexton was irreplaceable.”