World Rugby Rankings: Springboks go top

South Africa replacing Ireland at the top of the World Rugby Men’s Rankings was just one of multiple changes after a dramatic weekend of ups and downs in the Autumn Nations Series and beyond.

Every team in the top 10 except France changed position, with southern hemisphere teams dominating Guinness Men's Six Nations opposition. Leading the way, South Africa have returned to number one after their hard-fought 32-15 win against Scotland at Murrayfield.

The Springboks went into the final match of the weekend's Autumn Nations Series fixtures knowing that a draw would have been enough for them to reclaim first place because of Ireland’s defeat to New Zealand in the first match on Friday. And to Scotland’s credit, the Springboks were pushed hard for the first hour, but the world champions pulled through to pick up 0.69 rating points.

South Africa’s new rating of 92.46 points gives them a 1.25-point advantage over New Zealand, who have moved up a place from second, with Ireland dropping down to third.

France stay fourth having not received any additional points for their 52-12 win over Japan at the Stade de France, while Argentina are up to fifth after they put 50 points on Italy.

With England dropping two places following their 42-37 defeat to Australia in a game for the ages at Allianz Stadium, Scotland have actually moved up a place, to sixth, despite suffering a ninth consecutive loss to South Africa.

England drop to seventh for the first time since 2016, while the Wallabies are now only one place behind them in eighth. Having beaten Wales in Cardiff for the first time, Fiji are up one place to ninth, while Italy have fallen two to 10th after their 50-18 setback at home to Los Pumas.

Wales equalled their longest losing streak as the defeat to Fiji was their 10th in a row, and they’re currently at a record low of 11th in the rankings. Having a point knocked off their rating, though, hasn’t led to them falling any further.

USA were one of the biggest winners outside of the top 10, climbing three places to 16th thanks to a 21-17 win over Portugal in Coimbra. Portugal, who qualified for Rugby World Cup 2023 at the Eagles' expense, are just one place above them in 15th.

Spain struck a blow for Europe with a commendable 32-24 win at home to Uruguay, which has seen them climb one place to 17th, while Los Teros drop two to 19th. Tonga, meanwhile, have slipped two places to 18th after a 25-15 defeat to Romania in Bucharest. The victory boosted Romania’s rating by 1.25 points but that wasn’t enough for them to improve on 20th place.

The same was true for Chile who remained 21st following a dominant 44-14 defeat of Canada in the first match of a double header in Bucharest. There was better news for Brazil, who climbed four places and are now 26th following their 23-10 win away to Hong Kong China, while Kenya swapped places with Uganda after their 27-25 victory in the first leg of the Men's Elgon Cup.