Springboks are biggest losers in top 10 of world rugby rankings
The once-proud Springbok rugby team languish at sixth place on the latest world rugby rankings‚ their lowest position since the rankings were introduced, as they had for a collision course with the mighty All Blacks in a pool at the next World Cup. Issuing the latest rankings this week after a busy round of internationals‚ the World Rugby organisation said: "Ireland and Scotland both gained ground from a rankings perspective‚ while SA was the biggest loser in the top 10 as the jockeying for positions ahead of next May’s Rugby World Cup 2019 draw intensified over the November period". If the pools were drawn now‚ New Zealand (currently ranked one)‚ England (two)‚ Australia (three) and Ireland (four) would be kept apart as they are ranked as the top four seeds among the 12 direct qualifiers from RWC 2015. With four pools of five teams‚ each top seed is drawn with a side ranked fifth to eighth and then one from ninth to 12th. The remaining eight teams are drawn from two further bands....
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