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Cape Town - Following their 20-18 defeat to Italy in Florence, the Springboks have dropped one position to fifth on the official World Rugby rankings.
World Rugby: View latest rankings
Despite losing 21-9 at home to New Zealand, Ireland have moved ahead of the Boks into fourth position.
Having picked up one-fifth of a rating point following their win in Dublin, the top-ranked All Blacks are now on 94.78 points with England unchanged in second, on 89.84 points, after their 58-15 win over Fiji at Twickenham.
Australia cemented third place with a tense 25-23 win against France in Paris, while Scotland - who beat Argentina 19-16 in Edinburgh - move to 80.57 points which puts them seventh ahead of France and Argentina, although less than a point covers the three nations.
Italy’s shock win over the Springboks saw them gain two full rating points which would have been enough to lift them up one place to 12th in the rankings had Georgia not beaten Samoa 20-16 in Tbilisi.
One-hundredth of a rating point is all that now separates Conor O'Shea's men from the Lelos.
This weekend, the Springboks travel to Cardiff to face Wales, who stay sixth in the rankings, courtesy of a last-gasp 33-30 home win over Japan.
Top 15 in the latest World Rugby rankings:
1. New Zealand 94.78
2. England 89.84
3. Australia 88.14
4. Ireland 83.46
5. South Africa 82.49
6. Wales 81.77
7. Scotland 80.57
8. France 80.13
9. Argentina 79.91
10. Fiji 75.49
11. Japan 75.20
12. Georgia 74.24
13. Italy 74.23
14. Samoa 70.91
15. Tonga 70.25
