Rankings: Horror scenario where Springboks could fall to SIXTH
As a result of the Springboks' horror 38-22 defeat to Australia, they lost a whopping three rankings points and plunged to third place, while the All Blacks' good win over Argentina saw them gain 0.45 rankings points to leapfrog to the summit
There is still an expectation that the Springboks will bounce back against Australia in Cape Town this Saturday, but the fact remains: if they suffer another defeat by more than 15 points – a rankings nightmare would materialise.
A heavy defeat to the Wallabies – a team still ranked sixth in the world – could see the Springboks lose a further 2.65 rankings points, and that would see them plummet to sixth spot below England. Such a fall from grace would be almost unthinkable, but so was the scoreline last weekend.
If the Springboks were to suffer a defeat of less than 15 points, they would manage to hang onto third spot in the rankings, but they'd lose 1.77 ranking points and only just be marginally ahead of France and England.
That's the horror scenario, but by contrast, if the Springboks secure a big win over Australia by more than 15 points, they can jump back to second place ahead of Ireland.
Those permutations are based on the likelihood of New Zealand claiming victory against Argentina on Saturday night. Even so, ultimately the only way the All Blacks could lose top spot is if they somehow lost by more than 15 points to the Pumas while the Springboks beat Australia. 1 (↑2) New Zealand 92.51 2 (↑3) Ireland 89.83 3 (↓1) South Africa 89.78 (-3.00) 4 France 87.82 5 England 87.64 6 Australia 85.08 (+3.00) 7 Argentina 81.60 8 Scotland 81.57 9 Fiji 80.50 10 Italy 77.77
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