The All Blacks suffered their heaviest-ever defeat in Test rugby, falling to a 43-10 loss to the Springboks, which has seen them plummet down the World Rugby rankings.
For the first time ever, South Africa defended the Freedom Cup and did so emphatically, avenging the Eden Park defeat by running in six tries to New Zealand’s one to blow the Rugby Championship wide open with two rounds to go.
South Africa return to the top
The victory sees the world champions return to the summit of the world rankings, with the All Blacks falling two places into third.
South Africa earned a mammoth 2.25 rating points after beating New Zealand by more than 15 points in Aotearoa, with the All Blacks losing the same amount.
That means that Rassie Erasmus’ men leave the land of the long white cloud 1.62 points in the positive after losing 0.63 rating points in defeat at Eden Park.
Superb Springboks avenge Eden Park handing the All Blacks their biggest defeat EVER
It also sees them return to the top of the rankings, the place they surrendered in defeat to Australia at Ellis Park in Round One of the Rugby Championship. Meanwhile, Ireland have moved into second place with New Zealand dropping to third.
Australia and Argentina have swapped positions in the rankings after a thrilling encounter in Sydney, where Argentina emerged 28-26 victors despite a mighty fight by the Wallabies.
Joe Schmidt’s charges may have picked up two bonus points from the match, having finished within seven points and outscoring the Pumas four tries to one, but they have slipped in the rankings after losing 1.56 ranking points to Argentina.
That means that Felipe Contepomi’s men have moved into sixth position in the rankings, a crucial spot as it will be band one for the Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 draw in December.
Fly-half Santiago Carreras put in a telling 23-point performance for Argentina, racking up seven penalties and converted Julian Montoya’s try.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii scored a stunning try for the Australians, with Andrew Kellaway and Filipo Daugunu (2) also crossing the whitewash for the hosts. However, the inaccuracies off the tee proved costly for the Wallabies with three conversion attempts going awry.
The World Rugby rankings are set for further changes this weekend with the Pacific Nations Cup semi-finals getting underway on Sunday.
Latest World Rugby rankings
As of 13/09/2025 before the Pacific Nations Cup fixtures
1 South Africa 91.62 (+2.25)
2 Ireland 89.83
3 New Zealand 89.10 (-2.25)
4 France 87.82
5 England 87.64
6 Argentina 84.40 (+1.56)
7 Australia 83.85 (-1.56)
8 Scotland 81.57
9 Fiji 80.56
10 Italy 77.77
11 Georgia 74.69
12 Wales 74.05
13 Japan 73.40
14 Samoa 70.72
15 Spain 69.12
16 Tonga 66.87
17 Uruguay 66.59
18 Portugal 66.44
19 USA 65.57
20 Chile 64.76
READ MORE: Santiago Carreras boots Argentina past Wallabies to blow Rugby Championship wide open