The Springboks have to settle for second place in the World Rugby rankings, behind Ireland, despite thrashing Los Pumas by 41 points on Saturday.
TWO-WEEK RANKINGS RECAP
One of the repercussions of the Springboks’ shock 29-28 defeat to Argentina in Santiago del Estero a week ago was that they relinquished their 13-month unbroken reign as the No 1 Test team on the World Rugby rankings to Ireland, who have not been in action since March.
This is because that unwanted result cost the Springboks 1.81 ratings points, reducing their overall tally from 93.58 to 91.77.
This meant Ireland (92.12) moved to the top of the standings by default.
WHY SPRINGBOKS DIDN’T RETURN TO NO 1 SPOT EXPLAINED
Now you might wonder why the Springboks’ demolition job of Argentina in the return fixture this week didn’t earn them enough ratings points to reclaim top spot in the rankings.
Well, that’s because of the inner workings of World Rugby rankings system.
As per the system, because the Springboks are ranked so much higher than Argentina — four places to be exact — and with a whopping 7.47 rating points separating them coupled with home ground advantage for this clash, the victory had no impact on the South Africans’ rating and they subsequently didn’t earn any points to make up lost ground on Ireland.
UPDATED WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS: IRELAND AHEAD OF SPRINGBOKS
WHICH TEAM DO YOU THINK IS DESERVING OF THE NO 1 SPOT?
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