Updated rankings after Springboks win, France beat ABs
11/17/2024 12:37 AM
Coming into this weekend, the Springboks could have lost their No 1 spot at the top of the world rankings if results had not gone in their favour.
As it turned out, though, the Springboks kept their Outgoing Tour winning streak intact with a 29-20 (half-time 19-17) win over England, while later in the night France secured a one-point thriller over New Zealand.
As a result, Ireland leapfrog New Zealand in the rankings, jumping into second spot, but the Springboks now have a full two points lead at the the top of the standings.
The Springboks will travel from London to Cardiff on Sunday to prepare for this weekend’s year-ending fixture against Wales, where they will be overwhelming favourites and virtually certain to finish the year as the No 1 team.
WHERE THE SPRINGBOKS STAND IN THE LATEST RANKINGS
With Rassie Erasmus making 12 changes to the starting team that faced Scotland, he admitted that while they felt pressure at certain points in the match against England, the team selected added some sense of comfort.
"We named an experienced team and one that has played important matches," said the former Springbok loose forward.
"Many of them played in the closing match of the Rugby Championship against Argentina, but to hang in there with the yellow card, shows the planning the by the coaches.
"In fact, if Vincent (Koch) was not named as a loosehead prop on our team-sheet, we could have gone to uncontested scrums and had to play with 13 players on the field, so I'm pleased with the calm heads the players showed and how they remained calm and collected."
Looking ahead at their final Test against Wales, Erasmus said: "Next week will be our last match and then we'll see each other in June or July next year again, so we certainly want to end the tour on a high note.
"As coaches we first need to select the team and work really hard to analyse Wales properly and put our structures in place for the game, so that will be our focus next week."
Erasmus said they would assess Nche's injury in the next day or two after he suffered a cut above the knee which required stitches, and said they would determine his availability next week depending on his recovery.
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