All Blacks hoping for French favour

A France win against the Springboks would not only boost the All Blacks’ hopes of reaching the Nations Championship final but also send them to the top of the world rankings.

New Zealand will move to No 1 if Les Bleus win by any margin in Paris on Friday night, but will then need to beat 10th-ranked Wales in Cardiff on Saturday to remain there.

The All Blacks cannot earn any ranking points from that match, however, because of the 15.28-point gap between the teams.

France will move up to third if they beat the Boks for the first time since 2022, regardless of Ireland’s result against Fiji in Dublin.

Les Bleus can only lose fourth place if they are beaten by more than 15 points and England are victorious over Japan.

A first Wales win over New Zealand since 1953 will be enough to climb to ninth if Fiji are also beaten.

Fiji will only climb a place to eighth if they beat Ireland for the first time and Argentina lose to Italy in Genoa, with one of the margins more than 15 points.

Whoever emerges victorious at Murrayfield between Scotland and Australia on Sunday will occupy sixth place.

Argentina can only climb to seventh if they beat Italy and the Wallabies lose to Scotland with one of the margins by more than 15 points.

Italy will return to the top 10 with a win provided that Wales do not avoid defeat against New Zealand.

Meanwhile, fifth-ranked England can go as high as third this weekend, but it would require them to beat Japan by more than 15 points, France to lose by the same margin and Ireland to also suffer defeat.

Japan could go as high as ninth with a win by more than 15 points if Fiji and Wales are beaten.

World Rugby rankings (Top 15)
1. South Africa 93.09
2. New Zealand 92.65
3. Ireland 88.70
4. France 87.49
5. England 86.99
6. Scotland 84.40
7. Australia 83.12
8. Argentina 81.62
9. Fiji 77.79
10. Wales 77.37
11. Italy 76.30
12. Japan 75.25
13. Georgia 73.94
14. Portugal 70.52
15. Spain 67.73