South Africa's 43-28 victory over New Zealand in Baltimore on Saturday has pushed their World Rugby Rankings points tally to an all-time high of 95.09 — a figure the Springboks have never reached before, including during their three World Cup-winning campaigns and their record 98-week stint at the top of the rankings between November 2019 and September 2021.
The win sealed a 3-1 series victory in the Greatest Rivalry Series and extended their lead over the All Blacks from 2.44 points to 3.95 — the largest gap between the two sides since July 2024. South Africa gained 0.75 ranking points from the result; New Zealand drop to 91.15 in second.
The margin could have been even more significant. World Rugby awards additional ranking points for victories by more than 15 points, which would have given South Africa their biggest lead in five years — since July 2021 — but Beauden Barrett's late consolation try kept the winning margin at 15 points and denied the Springboks the bonus.
For historical context, South Africa stood at 90.82 points when they won the 2007 World Cup, 94.20 at the 2019 tournament and 94.54 after the 2023 triumph in Paris. Their previous best was 94.86 points in early July 2024 following the win over Ireland at Loftus, before the Durban loss the following week ended that run.
The scale of the improvement under Rassie Erasmus is underlined by where the team sat when he took charge: seventh in the world on 82.78 points after a loss to Wales in the United States in June 2018.
Updated World Rugby Rankings top 12: 1. South Africa 95.09, 2. New Zealand 91.15, 3. Ireland 88.08, 4. France 87.43, 5. England 85.68, 6. Scotland 84.68, 7. Australia 83.55, 8. Argentina 82.25, 9. Fiji 78.00, 10. Wales 76.38, 11. Italy 76.30, 12. Japan 76.09.