The Springboks have been comfortably ensconced at the top of the world rugby rankings since mid November, remaining at No 1 even in a period of inactivity during the Six Nations earlier this year when northern hemisphere rivals like Ireland and England were playing.
It’s been 35 weeks since the Springboks leapfrogged Ireland to go back to the top of the rankings last November, but in recent weeks the All Blacks have begun to eat into South Africa’s lead at the summit.
With New Zealand having secured three successive wins over a weakened France team in July, the Springboks now only have a gap of 0.72 points at the top of the rankings.
The two arch-rivals will next be in action when the Rugby Championship kicks off on 16 August, and if the Springboks were to lose to sixth-placed Australia, the All Blacks would jump to No 1 as long as they defeat Argentina in that opening round.
With that being said, the Springboks will be overwhelming favourites to beat the Wallabies at Ellis Park, as the All Blacks will be when they travel travel to Cordoba to take on seventh-ranked Argentina.
If both South Africa and New Zealand win, the Springboks should remain top considering it’s highly unlikely that the All Blacks will get enough points to wipe off the 0.72 deficit, but that rankings buffer for Rassie Erasmus’ team is constantly shrinking.
You can see exactly how the rankings are calculated by clicking here
TOP 20 IN THE LATEST WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS AS SPRINGBOKS HANG ONTO TOP SPOT
As at 21 July 2025
| Rank | Country | Points |
| 1 | South Africa | 92.78 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 92.06 |
| 3 | Ireland | 89.83 |
| 4 | France | 87.82 |
| 5 | England | 87.64 |
| 6 | Australia | 82.08 |
| 7 | Argentina | 82.05 |
| 8 | Scotland | 81.57 |
| 9 | Fiji | 80.50 |
| 10 | Italy | 77.77 |
| 11 | Georgia | 74.69 |
| 12 | Wales | 74.05 |
| 13 | Samoa | 72.48 |
| 14 | Japan | 72.29 |
| 15 | Spain | 69.12 |
| 16 | USA | 68.45 |
| 17 | Uruguay | 67.52 |
| 18 | Portugal | 66.44 |
| 19 | Tonga | 65.46 |
| 20 | Chile | 63.83 |
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