While there were minimal changes to the World Rugby Men’s Rankings powered by Capgemini as a result of the final round of matches in the Rugby Championship, there was plenty of movement for the teams involved over the course of the six-week-long competition.
Looking at the Rugby Championship in its entirety, South Africa remained rock solid in third place throughout as they finished as runners-up to New Zealand, but the All Blacks, Australia and Argentina all had their ups and downs.
Twice New Zealand fell to a record low of fifth as they suffered an indifferent start to their title defence, but they ended what was ultimately a successful campaign in fourth place with a total of 87.30 points as opposed to 86.13 at its outset.
The eight-hundredths of a point they picked up for Saturday’s title-clinching 40-14 defeat of Australia leaves the All Blacks 1.70 points behind the Springboks whose rating never changed from 89.00 points from week one to week six.
Australia encountered the most dramatic rollercoaster ride from a rankings perspective, finishing the Rugby Championship 2022 at a record low of ninth, on 80.65 points, having started it 2.65 points better off in sixth.
As for Argentina, the surprise leaders at the halfway point of the competition, they can take some satisfaction from their maiden campaign under new head coach Michael Cheika despite finishing bottom of the table once again.
Los Pumas managed to improve their position and points total over the tournament’s duration, moving from ninth to eighth and gaining 1.89 points overall.
