South Africa lost their top spot in the world rugby rankings after an 11-month reign following a miserable defeat to Argentina (29-28) in Santiago del Estero on Saturday 21 September.

The Springboks were ranked number one in the world in October 2023 after Andy Farrelly's side Ireland were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

However, the situation changed with the Springboks' overall rating dropping to 91.77 points. With this, they came second, 0.35 points behind Ireland, who regained the lead with 92.12 points.

Ending a nine-game losing streak against the Springboks, the Pumas not only kept alive their slim hopes of winning the Rugby Championship, but moved past Scotland to sixth in the world rankings.

Argentina travel to Mbombela next weekend for the final day of Rugby Championship 2024, five points behind the unbeaten Springboks.

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The Pumas weren't the only ones to improve this weekend as Fiji rose to ninth in the standings at Australia's expense after claiming their sixth Pacific Nations Cup Championship title.

Fiji produced a brilliant second half to claim a 41-17 win over tournament hosts Japan.

They improved their score to 79.64 points, just a third of a point behind eighth-placed Italy.

Australia made a good comeback against New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup but lost 31-28. All Blacks are down to 10^E position in the ranking. The Wallabies have already secured the spot for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, but have never been out of the top 10.

New Zealand remains in third place, but with a slightly better score of 88.70 points.

Japan, for its part, was replaced in 13^E Samoa's place in the Pacific Nations Cup, where they battled with the United States for third place.

This article was originally published in English RugbyPass.com Translated into French by Willy Billiard.