Springboks climb to fifth in latest World Rugby rankings

South Africa's win over New Zealand in Wellington moving them up two places in the World Rugby Rankings to fifth, while Australia drop to an all-time low of seventh after losing to Argentina.

The Springboks edged New Zealand 36-34 in a pulsating round 4 Rugby Championship clash on Saturday, with New Zealand having started superbly, running in two early tries for a 12-0 lead. 

The All Blacks hit back with a try just before halftime, but South Africa kicked a penalty to draw the first half to a close with a 24-17 advantage. The Springboks got off to the perfect start in the second half, with an intercept try extending the lead to 31-17. 

The Springboks were reduced to 14 players after picking up a yellow card and the hosts capitalized with their sixth try making it just a two-point ball game with 5 minutes remaining. An intense finish followed as New Zealand had a chance to sneak it at the death, but were kept out by some heroic Springbok defence as the visitors held on for a famous away victory.

Current World Rugby rankings:

1. New Zealand 92.52
2. Ireland 90.12
3. Wales 85.94
4. England 85.68
5. South Africa 83.35
6. Scotland 83.02
7. Australia 82.45
8. France 79.10
9. Argentina 79.02
10. Fiji 76.54
11. Japan 75.24
12. Tonga 73.84
13. Georgia 73.13
14. Italy 72.56
15. USA 71.66
16. Samoa 68.28
17. Romania 68.25
18. Uruguay 65.37
19. Russia 64.89
20. Spain 63.09

Argentina gained two ratings points for their win against Australia, condemning the Wallabies to their lowest-ever ranking of seventh after the Pumas' 23-19 win on the Gold Coast.