New Zealand have knocked Ireland off the top of the World Rugby rankings following their emphatic 23-13 victory at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Will Jordan scored the All Blacks’ only try of the match as Damian McKenzie’s 18 points from the tee steered Scott Robertson’s team to second place in the rankings for the time being with top spot still a possibility.
Josh van der Flier crossed for the hosts’ only try with Jack Crowley adding the extras and two penalties as Ireland suffered their first home loss after 19-successive such wins.
Ireland drop to third in the rankings
Ireland moved to the top of the rankings after their 24-25 victory over South Africa in Durban earlier this year but the Springboks reclaimed the top spot soon after with their efforts in the Rugby Championship.
However, a defeat to Los Pumas in Argentina saw the Boks surrender their number one ranking with Ireland benefitting and Andy Farrell’s side held onto top spot for just one game with South Africa now replacing them again.
The World Rugby rankings are only officially updated at midday (GMT) on Monday but. as things stand, South Africa (91.77) are first, New Zealand (91.21) are second and Ireland (90.58) are third.
All Blacks put lacklustre Ireland to the sword to bring 19-game home winning streak to a swift end
But that could all change on Sunday when Rassie Erasmus’ charges face off against Scotland at Murrayfield.
The Springboks are well placed to retain top spot as a draw will be enough to see them hold off New Zealand by the finest of margins as a stalemate will see Erasmus’ men end the weekend with 91.23 ranking points, just 0.02 more than their fiercest rivals.
However, a win by more than 15 points will give them a handy 1.25 rating point buffer and a victory by a smaller margin will see them top the rankings by 1.02.
A defeat of any kind to Scotland will see Ireland move up to second place with the Springboks dropping to third. South Africa or Ireland cannot drop lower than third as fourth-placed France cannot improve on their ranking spot with a victory over Japan and the gap between third place and those below France is too great.
World rankings after New Zealand’s win over Ireland
1 South Africa 91.77
2 New Zealand 91.21
3 Ireland 90.58
4 France 86.96
5 England 84.43
6 Argentina 84.30
7 Scotland 83.39
8 Italy 79.98
9 Australia 79.32
10 Fiji 79.07
11 Wales 76.04
12 Georgia 74.10
13 Samoa 72.68
14 Japan 72.31
15 Portugal 70.61
16 Tonga 68.12
17 Uruguay 67.39
18 Spain 66.29
19 USA 65.70
20 Romania 62.62