South Africa reclaim number 1 spot in World Rugby rankings
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After an action-packed weekend with matches in The Rugby Championship and the Pacific Nations Cup, there has been a few changes to the World Rugby rankings with USA being the biggest climbers and Tonga being the biggest fallers respectively.
South Africa have reclaimed their status as the number one team in the world after beating New Zealand 43-10 and retaining the Freedom Cup.
New Zealand suffered a record defeat and have dropped to third place below Ireland who are in second because the margin was greater than 15.
A defeat saw Australia drop to seventh with Los Pumas replacing them in what will be band one for the Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 draw in December.
USA climbed up three places, above both Portugal and Uruguay, to 16th after they beat Samoa 29-13 and secured qualification for RWC 2027.
Spain also moved up into 15th while Tonga dropped three spots to 19th after an eight-try defeat to Japan over the weekend.
