The Springboks always knew that the November Tests were set to throw up some surprises, although they wouldn’t have expected them to come in the form of two straight red cards in successive games, and yet the world champions have managed to keep winning – while also maintaining their No 1 spot in the rankings.
England also did the Springboks a favour this past weekend by beating New Zealand, which cost the All Blacks 1.03 points in the rankings. The Kiwis are still in second place, but there is now a 2.73 gap between them and the Springboks.
Although England have jumped to third place, they are still 1.24 points behind second-placed New Zealand.
It means that even if the Springboks were to lose Ireland this Saturday, they would still hold onto top spot, and only a virtually unfathomable defeat to embattled Wales could see them give up top spot. But that result in their season-ending Test next weekend is infinitely unlikely.
With the 2025 season drawing to a close, it’s now all but guaranteed that the Springboks will finish the year as the No 1-ranked team.
SPRINGBOKS IN PRIME POSITION IN WORLD RANKINGS
That’s especially important considering that the rankings will take on added significance in 2025, a year that will see all 24 qualified teams for Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia confirmed by the end of November.
The rankings will be used to place the 24 teams into bands for the draw, with those ranked 1-6 in Band 1, 7-12 in Band 2 and so on.
LATEST TOP 10 STANDINGS
| Rank | Country | Points |
| 1 | South Africa | 93.06 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 90.33 (-1.03) |
| 3 | England (↑1) | 89.09 (+1.03) |
| 4 | Ireland (↓1) | 88.85 |
| 5 | France | 87.07 |
| 6 | Argentina | 85.30 (+0.99) |
| 7 | Australia | 81.69 |
| 8 | Fiji (↑1) | 81.03 |
| 9 | Scotland (↓1) | 80.22 (-0.99) |
| 10 | Italy | 78.98 |
