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The Springboks have dropped to their second lowest spot ever in the World Rugby rankings.
South Africa’s fifth loss of 2017 has seen them fall one place to sixth in the latest World Rugby Rankings with Scotland the beneficiaries.
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The Springboks fought back from a slow start that left them 21-3 down after 34 minutes with tries from Warrick Gelant, Handre Pollard and Jesse Kriel giving them a one-point lead going into the last quarter of the match.
However, Leigh Halfpenny’s penalty 12 minutes from time gave the home side a 24-22 victory.
They have been ranked lower – seventh – which they fell to in March of this year.
World Rugby Rankings only came out in 2003. Here’s how each coach has done since. I guess Allister was right, it’s an improvement on last year. pic.twitter.com/il6PIt1okA
— Dean Oelschig (@DeanOelsch) December 4, 2017
Coetzee defended his position following the loss to Wale in Cardiff.
Reflecting on 2016, when the Springboks won only four of 12 Test matches, Coetzee stated: “Last year was a fiasco. Definitely a fiasco. So we started from scratch this year. That’s how I regard it: year one.”
“I am signed until 2019, that is what my contract is saying. The team has really grown and there is a lot of improvement, and it’s a really healthy team environment.
“Last year we didn’t win a game on tour and [this year] we’ve won two, so there’s progress.”
