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Cape Town - The Springboks have dropped to seventh in the official World Rugby rankings, their lowest position since the rankings were introduced in October 2003.
This was confirmed by World Rugby on Monday, after the latest round of Six Nations matches were completed over the weekend.
Wales’ 22-9 win over Ireland in Cardiff has taken them above South Africa to sixth in the rankings.
Scotland did not lose any points despite being on the receiving end of a 61-21 thumping at the hands of England at Twickenham, meaning they hang on to fifth place - but only just.
The Scots are now on 82.18 points, just two hundredths above Wales, who are still one rating point behind fourth-placed Ireland.
England’s record-equalling 18th straight Test win against Scotland did not come with any form of rankings reward as a consequence of the 8.84 rating point difference between the sides, before home weighting is taken into account.
They remain in second place on 91.02 points - 3.76 behind the All Blacks.
The Wallabies stay in third position on 86.35 points.
Next weekend's final round of Six Nations matches will be the final opportunity to those nations involved to rise - or drop -in the rankings, which is particularly significant given the proximity of the Rugby World Cup 2019 pool draw on May 10.
Top 10 in latest World Rugby standings:
1. New Zealand - 94.78
2. England - 91.02
3. Australia - 86.35
4. Ireland - 83.18
5. Scotland - 82.18
6. Wales - 82.16
7. South Africa - 81.79
8. France - 81.21
9. Argentina - 79.91
10. Fiji - 76.46
