Updated rugby rankings as Springboks, All Blacks and Ireland win

Round four of the Nations Championship saw some big performances from southern hemisphere teams, led by statement results for the Springboks and New Zealand, with very little now separating these two rivals on the World Rugby rankings.

The Springboks delivered a dominant display in Treviso, running in 10 tries to crush Italy 66-7, while the All Blacks proved too clinical for Scotland at Murrayfield, securing a 43-21 victory to keep pace at the top of the table.

Elsewhere, Ireland returned to winning ways with a convincing 42-12 home triumph over Argentina. England controlled their fixture at Twickenham against Australia, putting on an attacking clinic to pull away to a 45-22 victory, and France also produced an equally impressive display, storming to a 54-17 win over Fiji.

Closing out the round’s top-tier action, Wales fought off a spirited Japan side in Cardiff, holding on for a hard-earned 28-21 victory to notch their second win of the tournament.

Interestingly, every side in the top 10 of the World Rugby rankings earned some points, except for the Springboks, due to the fact Italy are ranked 11th.

However, no side saw a change in their position among the top 15 in the rankings, but the 0.38 points gained by the All Blacks move to within 0.44 of the Springboks.

HERE IS HOW THE RANKINGS LOOK After THE latest SPRINGBOK win

RankCountryPoints1South Africa

93.09

2New Zealand

92.65

3Ireland

88.70

4France

87.49

5England

86.99

6Scotland

84.40

7Australia

83.12

8Argentina

81.62

9Fiji

77.79

10Wales

77.37

11Italy

76.30

12Japan

75.25

13Georgia

73.94

14Portugal

70.52

15USA

67.80

HOW THE CURRENT NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP LOGS LOOK

Southern Hemisphere Table

Pos

Team

P

W

D

L

+/-

Pts

1

South Africa

4

4

0

0

+140

20

2New Zealand4400+73203Australia4103+684Argentina4103-3275Japan4103-3356Fiji4004-1330

Northern Hemisphere Table

Pos

Team

P

W

D

L

+/-

Pts

1France4301+78172England4301+71153Ireland4301+29154Scotland4202-11115Wales4202-35106Italy4004-1530