Boks closing the gap

South Africa may have failed to get the bonus point in their 28-8 win over Australia in the penultimate round of the Rugby Championship, but they have slightly narrowed the gap to New Zealand at the top of the IRB World Rankings.

The Springboks, who must now beat New Zealand in Johannesburg this coming Saturday - with a bonus point and deny their visitors a bonus point - to win the title, closed the gap by just over three tenths, but still trail the world champions by 3.23 rating points.

Australia’s fourth defeat of the Rugby Championship 2013 means they now sit less than two points above fifth ranked France as they travel to Argentina to face the Pumas in the battle to avoid the wooden spoon.

New Zealand’s 33-15 victory over Argentina in La Plata had no impact on the rating of either team as a consequence of the 15.66 rating points and nine places separating the two nations.

Top 20 IRB rankings (last week's ranking in brackets):

1(1) New Zealand 92.07

2(2) South Africa 88.84

3(3) England 85.76

4(4) Australia 83.34

5(5) France 81.59

6(6) Wales 81.36

7(7) Samoa 80.42

8(8) Ireland 79.58

9(9) Scotland 76.95

10(10) Argentina 76.41

11(11) Tonga 74.77

12(12) Italy 74.17

13(13) Fiji 73.56

14(14) Canada 72.68

15(15) Japan 71.98

16(16) Georgia 67.66

17(17) Romania 66.18

18(18) United States 64.91

19(19) Russia 61.99

20(20) Spain 60.44