New Zealand’s recent resurgence has seen the All Blacks climb above World Cup hosts France into second place on World Rugby’s latest Test rankings.
The All Blacks retained the Rugby Championship and the Bledisloe Cup following a comprehensive 38-7 victory over Australia in Melbourne.
It was New Zealand’s third win in a row and saw the All Blacks stretch their unbeaten run to 10 games. Ian Foster’s side last suffered a defeat in August 2022 against Argentina in Christchurch.
New Zealand only gained 0.45 points for the win but that was still enough to lift them above France as they now have 90.77 rating points compared to Les Bleus’ 90.47. Ireland’s lead at the top has been cut to just 1.05 points.
It was also a significant weekend for Fiji as they climbed back into the world’s top 10 for the first time since the start of the 2019 World Cup following a 33-19 win over Samoa in Apia.
With 1.51 points gained, Fiji’s improved rating of 76.86 points has seen them trade places with Samoa while also leapfrogging Japan and Georgia.
Photo: Martin KEEP / AFP