There was a bit of a shake up to the world rankings this past weekend as the All Blacks improved their ranking position with a good win over Ireland, while the Springboks were unable to gain any points despite their big victory over Japan.
Beyond that, third-placed Ireland lost -0.98 rankings points, while England gained +0.40 after claiming a 25-7 win over Australia, which also enabled them to jump into fourth place ahead of France.
With Les Bleus now down in fifth place, it does mean that if France could pick up a victory over the Springboks this Saturday, they could jump suddenly into third.
A loss for the Springboks, coupled with an expected win for the All Blacks over Scotland this Saturday could see South Africa slip to second place.
It adds an extra layer of importance on the result in Paris for the Springboks as they look to build on the narrowing 1.20 rankings points lead over New Zealand.
UPDATED WORLD RANKINGS AS ALL BLACKS CLOSE IN ON SPRINGBOKS
| 1. South Africa | 92.20 |
| 2. New Zealand | 91.00 (+0.98) |
| 3. Ireland | 88.85 (-0.98) |
| 4. England (↑1) | 88.04 (+0.40) |
| 5. France (↓1) | 87.82 |
| 6. Argentina | 83.82 |
| 7. Australia | 82.90 (-0.40) |
| 8. Scotland | 81.57 |
| 9. Fiji | 81.16 |
| 10. Italy | 77.77 |
NEW CAP ON THE BLOCK
This past weekend, Zachary Porthen made history by becoming the youngest Springbok prop to take the field in the professional era, with the burly forward having enjoyed a memorable debut in the team’s emphatic 61-7 victory against Japan.
The 12-year-old described the occasion as a “dream come true” and said his main goal going forward was to do everything possible to remain in the senior national set-up.
“It was honestly unreal,” said Porthen, who scrummed well, hit 13 rucks, made nine tackles and a carry in his 48 minutes on the field.
“It was a dream come true to be on the same field as all those guys (who I’ve looked up to). I could only dream of it before, and now it has come true. It’s crazy.
“This is what I’ve wanted to do my whole life, and it is certainly the highlight of my career so far. I’m grateful to be here, and I hope I can stay here. That’s the next step.”
Of his performance, he said: “I thought I did all right. I obviously have a lot to learn, but there are also things I can be proud of. That said, I’ll go back to the drawing board and learn. I’ve already spoken to coach Daan (Human – Bok scrum coach) and he said we have a couple of things we have to get into.
“The level of rugby was completely different, but it was nice that I got to this stage, and I feel I’ll be a little bit better next time because I now know what to expect.”
