Rankings permutations: Make or break for Springboks
The top spot in the World Rugby rankings could be set for a shake up after the Springboks and All Blacks' first Test.
Black News 
The Springboks and All Blacks are heading ever closer to this Saturday’s highly-anticipated Test at Ellis Park, which will be the only high-profile rugby international this weekend after the Rugby Championship was ditched this year.
World Rugby has now published the ranking permutations for the first Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series in South Africa, with the top two sides in the rankings set to face off.
Kick off is at 17:10 in Johannesburg.
Rankings permutation highlights as the Springboks face the All Blacks:
- New Zealand will return to number one for the first time since September 2025 if they beat South Africa in the first Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
- South Africa currently hold a 1.68 rating point advantage over New Zealand, which could grow to as much as 4.18 points if the Springboks win by more than 15 points.
- A New Zealand victory by that margin would see them with a 1.82 point cushion going into the second Test in Cape Town.
- Neither side can drop below second this weekend.
VIEW WORLD RUGBY MEN’S RANKINGS >>
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa | 93.96 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 92.28 |
| 3 | Ireland | 88.08 |
| 4 | France | 87.43 |
| 5 | England | 85.68 |
| 6 | Scotland | 84.78 |
| 7 | Argentina | 83.13 |
| 8 | Australia | 82.09 |
| 9 | Fiji | 78.00 |
| 10 | Wales | 76.38 |
| 11 | Italy | 76.30 |
| 12 | Japan | 75.94 |
| 13 | Georgia | 73.94 |
| 14 | USA | 70.22 |
| 15 | Portugal | 69.39 |
| 16 | Chile | 66.94 |
| 17 | Spain | 66.83 |
| 18 | Uruguay | 65.75 |
| 19 | Tonga | 65.14 |
| 20 | Samoa | 64.73 |
REFEREE NOTES
Matthew Carley (England)
Test debut: 8 March, 2014 – Russia 34-18 Portugal
Tests as referee: 51
- Matthew Carley will referee this fixture for the fourth time, with South Africa having emerged victorious in all three previous meetings.
- Only one of these has come on South African soil, the Springboks winning 18-12 in Cape Town in the 2024 Rugby Championship.
- The others came on Australia’s Gold Coast in the 2021 Rugby Championship (31-29) and at Twickenham in a Rugby World Cup 2023 warm-up match (35-7).
- South Africa lost their first two tests with Carley in the middle – against Wales (22-20 in June 2018) and Australia (30-17 in September 2021) – but are currently on a seven-match winning run.
- Two of these took place in 2025, a 55-10 victory over Georgia in July and a 24-13 defeat of Ireland in the Quilter Nations Series.
- New Zealand have a W5, L3 record with Carley as referee with all three losses at the hands of South Africa.
- They also won their most recent encounter with the English official in charge, beating Australia 28-14 in the 2025 Rugby Championship.
- This will be Carley’s third Test of the year, having become the 19th official to reach 50 tests in the middle in February with Scotland’s 26-23 victory over Wales in Cardiff before overseeing the Scots’ 33-17 win against Fiji in the Nations Championship last month.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
1921-2025 | Played 110 | South Africa 43 | New Zealand 63 | Draw 4
