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All Blacks overtake France to move into second on World Rugby rankings
By Sam Smith
The All Blacks have overtaken France to reclaim second place on the World Rugby rankings following their win over Ireland in Auckland last weekend.
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World Rugby released its latest rankings update after the first weekend of the July test window, with the All Blacks moving to within one place of top spot in the wake of their 42-19 thumping of the Irish at Eden Park on Saturday.
In doing so, the Kiwis have demoted France into third place despite their comprehensive 42-23 win over Japan in Toyota.
It comes after Les Bleus leapfrogged New Zealand into second place on the World Rugby rankings in the immediate aftermath of their Six Nations Grand Slam success four months ago.
The All Blacks now trail the first-placed Springboks by less than a point on the rankings after the world champion South Africans clinched a last-gasp 32-29 win over Wales in Pretoria.
There was plenty of movement elsewhere among World Rugby’s top ten-ranked teams, with the Wallabies and Los Pumas both benefitting from their respective wins over England and Scotland.
Australia’s 30-28 win over England in Perth – their first against the English since 2015 – sees Dave Rennie’s side move into fifth place, while Eddie Jones’ men have fallen into sixth.
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Directly below them in seventh spot is Argentina, who – under the stewardship of new head coach Michael Cheika – have moved up from eighth place after toppling Scotland 26-18 in San Salvador.
The Scots, meanwhile, have fallen one place to fill the void left by Los Pumas in eighth spot as a direct result of that defeat.
Six Nations minnows Italy also shot up two places into 12th place, overtaking Georgia and Samoa in the process, following their comfortable 45-13 win over Romania in Bucharest.
By contrast, Romania dropped two places to end the weekend as the world’s 19th-ranked team, resulting in a one-place rise for both the United States and Uruguay.
World Rugby rankings (1-20)
1. South Africa (N/C) – 90.61
2. New Zealand (+1) – 89.72
3. France (-1) – 89.24
4. Ireland (N/C) – 87.25
5. Australia (+1) – 84.68
6. England (-1) – 83.74
7. Argentina (+1) – 81.40
8. Scotland (-1) – 80.98
9. Wales (N/C) – 79.28
10. Japan (N/C) – 77.90
11. Fiji (N/C) – 76.62
12. Italy (+2) – 74.02
13. Georgia (-1) – 73.78
14. Samoa (-1) – 73.59
15. Spain (N/C) – 68.62
16. Tonga (N/C) – 67.72
17. USA (+1) – 66.54
18. Uruguay (+1) – 66.40
19. Romania (-2) – 65.90
20. Portugal (N/C) – 65.08
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