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It’s second chance Saturday for Ireland in men's world rankings
By Jon Newcombe
Neutral rugby fans will be hoping for a repeat of last weekend’s thriller in Johannesburg when South Africa and New Zealand renew their epic rivalry at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town this Saturday.
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For long periods it looked as though the All Blacks would pull through and win at Emirates Airline Park, having led for the majority of the game.
But fittingly for a game that never failed to disappoint, Grant Williams came up with the crucial try to win it for the Springboks in a dramatic finale.
Williams’ score not only broke New Zealand hearts but also denied Ireland the chance to reclaim top spot in the world rankings for the first time since mid-October last year.
South Africa replaced Ireland at the summit after their untimely RWC 2023 quarter-final exit, and have stayed there ever since having backed up their RWC 2023 final win over the All Blacks with six wins and only one defeat in 2024.
The Springboks’ advantage over Ireland when they lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in Paris was a fraction under four points. However, it is now down to just 1.25 points after Ireland clawed back ground during their Guinness Six Nations win, and by winning the second Test against the Springboks in July.
Despite kicking off The Rugby Championship with three straight wins, South Africa’s position at the top of the rankings remains vulnerable. A loss to New Zealand will see them dethroned as the world’s best team, as far as the rankings go, with Ireland replacing them there.
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South Africa will fall to second if that happens but will drop a further place to third if the margin of defeat is greater than 15 points.
In the other Rugby Championship match in Sante Fe, a revenge win for hosts Argentina after last week’s one-point defeat to Australia would not result in any change in their position, as Scotland are too far in front to be caught in sixth. However, Los Pumas will be replaced in seventh by Australia if the Wallabies come away with a second consecutive win.
The two Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup matches also count towards the rankings, but with home wins for Fiji and Japan expected, over Tonga and USA, respectively, there is unlikely to be much movement.
If USA can manage to do what no other Men’s Eagles team has done in the last two decades, and win on Japanese soil, they could move up the rankings by as many as three places to 16th.
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Bullshit. You made a factually incorrect statement and then contradicted yourself. Instead of manning up you twist yourself into indefensible and illogical statements because your inferiority complex is so gargantuan that you cannot bear the thought that some anonymous person on the internet got the better of you.
You're a very sad little man.
I made a statement which holds through for this argument. Th exception proves the rule. You are too much of a moron to be able to differentiate between general and trivial. Are you from SA? I know they are not all as dumb as you there.
Oh right, now I'm agreeing with someone who posted something completely different? Only in your deranged mind, you addlepated f-wit.
YOU made a statement and the YOU contradicted yourself. Now you're trying to weasel out of mit by making all kinds of illogical mental leaps. You're not just a moron, you're the king of morons.
THERE WAS NO NEED FOR WRITER'S HERE GIVING RASSIE EXTRA REASON TO BEAT NZ ALL BLACKS AS THIS YEAR S.A. WERE GIVEN HOME ADVANTAGE IN BOTH SO DON'T INTERFERE IN A CONTEST THAT IS ALWAYS HARDER TO WIN AWAY FROM HOME SO BUTT OUT......name less WRITER WHO HIDES HIS AUTHORSHIP IN ANONIMITY ! CHICKEN!!!
I think your Caps Lock key might be stuck ...
Generally we love the rugby 🏉. So please tell why we need this type of negativety? (There's enough in the world). With rugby 🏉 we have conquered many barriers, not all yet,but we are on the correct path. So more positivity is what's needed. To all rugby 🏉 fans and players. Cheers 🍻
Headlines like this are not doing anyone any favours. Least of all Ireland. The southern hemisphere teams are playing a championship, which as a rugby 🏉 supporter, I am enjoying. It's best to enjoy the rugby 🏉 and less so the statistics. Enjoy the games this weekend rugby fans. Cheers 🍻 👏 ✌️
It's clickbait. That's why they do it. Abba wrote a song about it. It's called MoneyMoneyMoney
WR always makes it about the NH. Where do they funnel the most money? NH. The NH wants rules changed, and WR oblige. I don't care if Ireland is ranked number 1 by the WR statistics leaderboard. It's a NH WR board. The Boks bring in something, and WR changes it or make it illegal. The Boks scrums is too strong, so WR change the rules so that the softies up north can stand a chance. Ireland care about one thing only, to be ranked 1, helped by WR. Not a title deserved, but they will grab it with both hands. WR referees are getting worse instead of better. Most WR referees employed by WR is from where? You guessed it, the NH. Why is anyone surprised at all? This is not new. It has been going on for 2 decades if not longer. SRP and the RC don't receive any money from WR. WR is pumping money into the NH for a good reason. The good reason they claim, is look at the WC. It's an uneven competition with the NH winning only once since the 1st WC. With that mentality in their eyes, the NH needs the money to make them stronger to be able to compete better. In 10 WC the SH won it 9 times. You want a reason why rugby in the SH is not improving but going down? No money. No WR money. Rassie is not stupid and knows this. That is why he wants players to apply their trade where ever they can, in any country they can. It's why SARU moved North for international club rugby. Getting nothing from WR, SARU were forced to seek their fortunes elsewhere. Unless NZ and Aus do the same, they will eventually become the joke of the rugby world. Aus was strong, one of the regular top 3 in the world. Look at them now. NZ was once feared throughout, the strongest and best. They are by no means weak, but they are not what they once were. That downward trend will continue due to competitions that's not very competitive at club level. That will and is already affecting their international side. SA was there before Rassie took over. He made sure the Boks is going with the flow. WR needs A VERY BIG overhaul. The ranking system, the competitions, the WC, it all needs revamping. Or we need a new WR union. This one suck. They should make the ranking system simple. 0 for a loss. 1 each for a draw, 2 for a win. If you win at home, you get an extra point, and if you lose at home, you lose a point. Draw, home or away, doesn't get any extra points. Every 4 tries gets you a bonus point, so if your team wins with 8 tries, you get rewarded instead of points for winning by 15 or more or losing by 15 etc etc etc. this 0.something nonsense is just favouring the NH. WR favourite. WR headquarters should move to a neutral sphere
DON'T APOLOGISE FOR AB'S JUST BECAUSE WE'RE RECOVERING FROM LOSING HALF A TEAM OF LEGENDS AFTER WINNING TWO SUCCESSIVE WORLD CUPS AND NARROWLY LOSING BY ONE POINT IN THE FOURTH LAST YEARS FOURTH AND FINISHING THIRD IN THE 2019 RWC! BUT AGREE WE DON'T GET ANY WORLD RUGBY HANDOUTS EVEN THOUGH WORLD RUGBY CAN SWEET TALK OUR FIERCEST RIVAL TO THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE LEAVING SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE COMPS WEAKENED!!!
As for the French -- they can only play in France. That's why they had to influence, questionably, the rugby nations, so as to obtain 2023 World Cup hosting rights. They need overseas players to raise the quality level of their comp.
So do England, Ireland & Scotland.
Ridiculous comment to make re: Ireland ranking position. Third world thinking and must make the real Irish cringe at such statements. A case of you can pick your friends but stuck with your family. Actually sad
Pretty sure jon Newcombe is not Irish.
Ireland is already the best team in the world. France is second.
The SH can fight for third - because it's clear neither team playing this weekend in Cape Town can win if a competent ref finally shows up and does their job properly .
That has been shown repeatedly. But you kids enjoy your third rate SH comp this weekend .
The SH thickos who don't turn up and support their teams by actually purchasing tickets won't know the difference anyway
😆 🤣 😂 and that's why only 1 northern hemisphere team has ever won the world cup..yeah u lot are just the best ..maybe overstating just how gd u really are..we hear it every year how gd northern hemisphere teams are and every year it's the same old story..u lose
Boring
It's a sad day for rugby if the 8th best team of the WC is seen as the best team in WR. Trying to kill the sport because the Irish keeps failing? Did you know the only way Ireland will ever win the WC is when it gets given to them with no teams playing? In your dream world, how many times have the Irish won it? 10/10 WCs? Dreams is not reality. The SH ONCE AGAIN had 3 teams in the semis of the WC. They should bid for 3rd place? In your dream world you mean? There is NO COMPETENT REF in the NH and they all work for WR. They keep screwing up. All these refs is your NH refs, like the one on Saturday was an IRISH REF. You complain about them, but they are FROM THE NH. The 3rd rate SH competition is much stronger because it's the SH that have 9/10 WC's in the bank. Doesn't say much for your knowledge of the game. All it shows is HOW THICK YOU ARE.
Who hurt you man? So bitter.
Expectations of trolls are low, but good grief this is sad. 😂
🤡🤡 that's why the NH only have 1 WC between all you lot up North. Bunch of chokers! Embarrassing! If Ireland was the best team they would at least make it past a QF for once.......... Keep your NH rugby its plain straight forward sucks!
I think we all must have missed Ireland playing France in the WC final to achieve their seedings of 1 and 2. How did I not see that game. You obnoxious twat talking about third rate comps and insinuating superiority of playing ranks. Ireland of late have certainly proven their worth culminating in their deserved series win in NZ, but still can't show up when it counts so until they do can't be considered no. 1, France as usual can be very good or frustratingly average and haven't been able to "show up " since the first WC so can't be no. 2, England are the most disappointing as they really should have won more than 1 WC by now, letting themselves down terribly in '07 and '19 and even '23, but then falling away in between, Wales and Scotland haven't beaten the ABs since Adam was a boy and Italy can easily give up a hundred when playing SH sides at a WC. The last WC 3 of the 4 semi finalists were from the SH, your little rants are petulant and the imaginations of a child.
These rankings is a big joke...How on earth can you win games and not get points and Ireland that is not playing any games currently will end up 1 These rankings are there only for Ireland but they can't even win a world cup.Is WR doing them a favour because there head office is in Dublin,Ireland will not be surprised that WR will hand them the world cup in years to come
You haven't a clue son. If you win a match you gain points and if you lose a match you lose points. If you didn't lose points when you lose a match then every team would keep climbing and climbing. So when Ireland lost in Pretoria, EVERY team gained on team. Does your conspiracy theory look a little idiotic now?
And again the irrelevance of the farcical WR rankings is made evident.
Lol
2 most relevant teams in Rugby play this weekend and a hack tries to make it about Ireland.
It’s always about Ireland. Don’t you know.
A riveting weekend of rugby for Ireland as they aim to take the no.1 spot doing sweet effall.
Even if that happens, SA are still clearly the real No 1. However with that said, I'm sure the Ireland team & it's supporters would prefer to achieve that properly anyway.