Springboks stay third

South Africa remain third in the World Rugby rankings following their 30-23 victory over Argentina in Nelspruit.

The entire rankings list is unchanged, but results from the opening round of the 2016 Rugby Championship have seen New Zealand and South Africa strengthen their grip on top and third spot respectively, while fouth-placed Australia and ninth-ranked Argentina suffered points decreases.

The Boks fired late to snatch an unconvincing win over Los Pumas, but the result earned them 0.09 of a point increase as Allister Coetzee's side move from 86.32 to 86.41 rankings points. Argentina are still ninth, but their rankings tally was trimmed by 0.08 of a point.

The All Blacks' 42-8 thrashing of the Wallabies in Sydney saw them gain 0.2 of a point, extending their total at the top to 96.30. Australia's total was reduced by 0.2 of a point and they are now on 80.12 rating points.

World Rugby rankings (Top 20)

1. New Zealand 96.30

2. England 89.49

3. South Africa 86.41

4. Australia 84.23

5. Wales 82.49

6. Ireland 81.67

7. France 80.75

8. Scotland 80.44

9. Argentina 80.12

10. Fiji 75.49

11. Georgia 75.23

12. Japan 74.95

13. Italy 72.23

14. Samoa 71.37

15. Tonga 69.47
Full rankings

How the rankings work

Photo: Dirk Kotzé/Gallo Images

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