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Cape Town - The Springboks have dropped one spot to sixth on the official World Rugby rankings released on Monday.
This comes after Scotland defeated England in their Six Nations clash in Edinburgh at the weekend.
Scotland’s first win over England in 10 years has seen them climb up to fifth in the rankings.
The 25-13 victory continued their impressive form at Murrayfield - they have now won six on the bounce at home in the Six Nations - and was worth a fraction under one and a half points, enough to take them above both South Africa and Wales.
The Scots now have 84.43 points and are just over a point away from catching Australia and claiming a place in the top four for the first time since the rankings were introduced in October 2003.
With England losing 1.47 points for their loss in Edinburgh and Ireland gaining just under four tenths for beating Wales 37-27 in Dublin, the gap between the teams ranked second and third is now down to 2.27 points, while New Zealand’s advantage over England at the top has grown to 4.61 points.
Wales played a full part in the 59-point thriller at the Aviva Stadium but their second defeat of the Six Nations, following the 12-6 loss to England a fortnight ago, cost them 0.36 of a point.
Friday's 34-17 victory over Italy in Marseilles prevented France slipping below Japan in the rankings for the first time. The 0.12-point gained, however, was not enough to see them climb any higher than their current position of 10th. Italy remain 14th but have lost a bit more ground on Tonga above them.
Top 20 in latest World Rugby standings:
1. New Zealand 93.99
2. England 89.38
3. Ireland 87.21
4. Australia 85.49
5. Scotland 84.43
6. South Africa 83.81
7. Wales 83.07
8. Argentina 78.22
9. Fiji 77.93
10. France 77.56
11. Japan 75.66
12. Georgia 73.46
13. Tonga 71.87
14. Italy 71.13
15. Samoa 69.03
16. Romania 68.24
17. Uruguay 67.32
18. USA 67.27
19. Spain 64.59
20. Russia 62.88
