Australia slip out of top four

Australia have slipped out of world rugby's top four ranked nations after the Wallabies were humbled by the All Blacks in Sydney.

The All Blacks remain in top spot with England second and Ireland third, but South Africa have knocked Australia down to fifth in climbing to fourth.

The Wallabies sit just above Scotland, Wales and France in the updated rankings, while Fiji have leapfrogged Argentina to reach ninth place.

The All Blacks increased their points to 95.21 in first place by winning 54-34 in Saturday's first Bledisloe Cup test of 2017 in the opening round of the Rugby Championship, while the Springboks beat the Pumas 37-15 in Port Elizabeth.

Australia's 84.21 points means they're now 11 behind New Zealand and 1.74 ahead of sixth-placed Scotland, who beat the Wallabies - minus three Lions players - 24-19 in Sydney in June.

The second Bledisloe Cup test takes in places in Dunedin on Saturday.

World Rugby Rankings
1. New Zealand (95.21)
2. England (90.14)
3. Ireland (85.39)
4. South Africa (84.51)
5. Australia (84.21)
6. Scotland (82.47)
7. Wales (81.73)
8. France (79.63)
9. Fiji (79.48)
10. Argentina (79.15)

 

 

 

Photo by: GETTY IMAGES Caption: Australia have dropped to fifth in rugby's updated world rankings.