There was a major shake-up in the World Rugby rankings after New Zealand beat an out-of-sorts Ireland side in Dublin on Friday night and Australia stunned England at the death in London.
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Meanwhile, there were also big wins for Argentina over Italy and France over Japan.
On Friday, the All Blacks triumphed 23-13, ending Ireland’s 19-match unbeaten streak at Lansdowne Road.
Man of the match Damian McKenzie scored 18 of the All Blacks points – with Will Jordan maintaining his record of scoring a try every time he has played Ireland.
Ireland replied with a try by Josh van der Flier and a conversion and two penalties by Jack Crowley.
The Irish will have to up their game as they regroup to host Argentina next Friday while the All Blacks play France.
Rankings
New Zealand picked up 1.55 ranking points for their victory and moved from third to second place, while Ireland lost 1.55 points and fell from first to third spot.
That meant South Africa inherited the top spot once again in the World Rugby rankings.
However, the Springboks will need to beat Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Sunday, 10 November to remain in the No 1 position.
Kick-off is at 18:10 (SA time).
A win by the Springboks by 15 points or less will see them pick up a further 0.46 points.
Victory by 16 or more points for Rassie Erasmus’s men will add 0.69 points to their current tally.
However, a draw would see the Springboks lose 0.54 (but stay at No 1 by a mere 0.02 points), while a defeat by between 1 and 15 points would see South Africa shed 1.54 points and slip to third.
An unthinkable defeat by 16 or more points for the Springboks would see them lose 2.31 points.
Other results
Elsewhere, the Wallabies upset England at home 42-37 well into injury time with a near length of the field winning try.
Argentina thumped Italy 50-18 and France were far too strong for Eddie Jones’s Japan, winning 52-12 at the Stade de France in Paris.
UPDATED RUGBY WORLD RANKINGS
RANKCOUNTRYPOINTS1South Africa91.772New Zealand91.213Ireland90.584France86.965Argentina85.606Scotland83.397England82.628Australia81.149Fiji79.0710Italy78.6711Wales76.0412Georgia74.1013Samoa72.6814Japan72.3115Portugal68.8216Tonga68.1217USA67.4918Spain67.1019Uruguay66.5820Romania62.62
WEEKEND TEST FIXTURES
All times SA
FRIDAY, 8 NOVEMBER
Ireland 13-23 New Zealand
SATURDAY, 9 NOVEMBER
Hong Kong 10-23 Brazil
Canada 14-44 Chile
Spain 33-24 Uruguay
Kenya 27-25 Uganda
England 37-42 Australia
Portugal 17-21 USA
Romania 25-15 Tonga
Italy 18-50 Argentina
France 52-12 Japan
SUNDAY, 10 NOVEMBER
Wales vs Fiji – 15:40
Scotland vs South Africa – 18:10
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