Boks oh-so-close to world No 1 ranking

After beating Scotland 18-3 in their Rugby World Cup Pool B clash in Marseille on Sunday, the Springboks narrowly missed out on supplanting Ireland at the top of the World Rugby rankings.

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Ireland, who thumped Romania 82-8 in Bordeaux, remain narrowly on top with 91.82 rating points. Remarkably, South Africa fell one point a short of the margin of victory they needed to replace Ireland.

According to the official Rugby World Cup website, the Boks (91.67) would have gained the world No 1 ranking had they managed to beat Scotland by more than 15 points.

Instead, the Springboks' 15-point victory over the Scots leaves them 0.15 rating points adrift of Ireland in the rankings.

1. Ireland - 91.82

2. South Africa - 91.67

3. France - 90.59

4. New Zealand - 87.69

5. Scotland - 83.43

6. England - 83.22

7. Australia - 81.78

8. Wales - 80.66

9. Fiji - 77.88

10. Argentina - 77.59

Full rankings list

Elsewhere, France and New Zealand stay in third and fourth respectively after Les Bleus beat the All Blacks 27-13 in the opening match in Paris.

With Rugby World Cup fixtures carrying double the points, the host nation's 14-point win boosted their rating to 90.59, while New Zealand's fell to 87.69.

The Kiwis still have a handy 4.26-point lead over fifth-placed Scotland, while England moved up from eighth to sixth after an impressive 27-10 win over Argentina in Marseille. The win took England to 83.22 points, with the gap between themselves and Scotland a meagre 0.21 points.

Los Pumas have fallen four places to 10th - their lowest ebb in almost three years.

The Wallabies, who beat Georgia 35-15 at the Stade de France, moved up two places to seventh, while Wales climbed two