2019 Rugby World Cup: All Blacks take back World No 1 ranking

The All Blacks are back atop rugby's world rankings after their win over the Springboks - despite former World No 1 Ireland also claiming a convincing victory.

New Zealand's 23-13 victory over the Springboks on Saturday has seen them jump from 89.40 points to 90.98 points, jumping ahead of Ireland, whose 27-3 win over Scotland only saw them move from 89.47 points to 89.93 points.

The All Blacks are now likely to maintain top spot throughout the rest of pool play, continuing a drastic few weeks which has seen both Wales and Ireland take top spot, in between a brief spell where the All Blacks reigned supreme.

TJ Perenara and the All Blacks are back to World No 1. Photo / AP

Taking back top spot won't matter to the All Blacks however.

In the wake of his side's resounding victory over Australia at Eden Park in Auckland two weeks ago, All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen voiced his disapproval of the way in which his side were demoted to No 2 on the rankings for the first time since 2009.

"We won the Bledisloe Cup and lost the rankings. Ask yourself how that works," he said.

"I've never understood their system. You win a game and you lose the top ranking?

"When you sit back, it's something that's going to happen anyway – the top-ranked sides are playing each other in the northern hemisphere, and you get more points if you beat top sides.

"We just need to get ourselves in the right frame of mind to go to the World Cup and win that. I'm not too worried about rankings."

The Springboks' defeat sees them drop a spot into fifth place, while Scotland's poor performance against Ireland drops them one spot as well, into eight. Wales (fourth) and France (seventh) move ahead of them respectively.

The other change in the top 10 sees Japan equal their highest ever ranking of ninth, with Fiji's loss to Australia dropping them to 10th.

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