Defeat against Japan sees South Africa drop from third to sixth in the latest rugby world rankings
The fallout from the weekend’s first round of games has been felt in the latest rugby world rankings table, with the Springboks falling three places to sixth after their shock loss to Japan.
South Africa now sit in sixth place, behind England, Wales and Ireland, as their coefficient dropped by five points. Japan, meanwhile, leapfrog Scotland to move into 11th place.
The Scots fall from 10th to 12th – mostly due to those teams around them playing and winning – as Japan and Samoa move above them. Scotland face Japan in their first game of the tournament on Wednesday.
Georgia, the weekend’s other big winners, move up three places from 16th to 13th after their win over Tonga, who themselves drop three places to 14th.
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New Zealand and Australia remain first and second, while England move into third position thanks to South Africa’s demise. Wales and Ireland sit fourth and fifth respectively.
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