Stephen Donald has revealed that South Africa, New Zealand and France will go into the upcoming end-of-year Tests as the three leading sides in international rugby.<\/b><\/p>\n
According to World Rugby\u2019s official rankings, the current World Cup and Rugby Championship winners South Africa are the top ranked team in the global game with the All Blacks occupying second position, while Ireland are third and Six Nations champions France sit fourth.<\/p>\n
During the Rugby Championship, the Springboks dropped down to third place after they lost their tournament opener against Australia in Johannesburg with the All Blacks<\/a> shifting up to top spot after beating Argentina in Cordoba while Ireland moved into second place despite not playing that weekend.<\/p>\n The All Blacks consolidated their position at the top of the rankings when they beat the Boks at Eden Park in Auckland earlier this year but a week later Rassie Erasmus\u2019 troops met Scott Robertson\u2019s charges at Sky Stadium in Wellington and handed their arch rivals their heaviest ever defeat at Test level which resulted in the world champions returning to the summit while the men in black dropped to third place.<\/p>\n South Africa and New Zealand finished their Rugby Championship campaigns with back-to-back victories over Argentina and Australia respectively which resulted in the Boks ending that tournament firmly entrenched in pole position in the rankings while the All Blacks moved above Ireland<\/a> into second position.<\/p>\n However, ahead of Saturday\u2019s eagerly anticipated Test between the All Blacks and Ireland in Chicago, Donald<\/a> feels Andy Farrell\u2019s charges are not amongst the top three teams in the international arena.<\/p>\n While appearing on The Aftermatch with Kirst & Beav<\/a>, Donald was asked by the show\u2019s host Kirstie Stanway where the power of rugby lies ahead of the Autumn Nations Series and replied: \u201cYou\u2019ve got the Boks and the All Blacks, who I think are out there, if not in the top two, they\u2019re in the top three together.<\/p>\n \u2018And then I think there\u2019s just a little bit of a gap\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then there\u2019s France. And then I think there\u2019s just a little bit of a gap.<\/p>\n \u201cNot a huge gap, but there is a gap.\u201d<\/p>\n Donald admitted that he could be left with egg on his face after this weekend\u2019s encounter between the All Blacks and Ireland but stuck to his guns and reiterated that he feels South Africa, New Zealand and France are the three leading Test nations.<\/p>\n \u201cThis might not age well,\u201d he said. \u201cThis comment could last all of five days. But at the moment, I think there\u2019s a top three.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then there\u2019s just a little bit of, let\u2019s just say, the width of a ruler for those who are still using the pen and ruler to underline their schoolwork.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then I think we\u2019ve got a couple of teams.\u201d<\/p>\n