Boks mov eup one in world rankings

Cape Town - The Springboks have moved up one position in the latest rankings released by the International Rugby Board (IRB) on Monday.

The Boks are now ranked third, with France shifting down one position after their 17-all Six Nations draw against Ireland in Paris on Sunday.

World chumpions New Zealand still top the rankings with 91.43 points, followed by Australia on 87.99. The Springboks have 84.34 points, with the French now narrowly behind on 84.20.

The only other movers on the list this week are the Irish, who edged past Argentina into seventh position on 80.30 points. The South Americans shifted down into eighth spot on 80.28.

Wales (82.62) and England (81.34) occupy fifth and sixth spot respectively.

Heyneke Meyer, who was appointed as the new Bok coach in January, made it clear that the main aim for his side is to be the world's No 1 ranked team.

Past Springbok coaches were often guilty of not always picking the best available XV's for some matches. Often the term "looking at the bigger picture" (i.e. a World Cup) was given, which led to a slide in the rankings.

But Meyer clearly has other ideas.

“The World Cup is very important, but you cannot build at Springbok level. The building has to be done at Super Rugby, Currie Cup and the lower levels. Every single game the Springboks play is extremely important, and the mission is to win every game we play. I believe we have to choose the best available team to win every game. I want to see the Springboks back at No 1 in the world, which is where we belong," Meyer was quoted as saying after being appointed Bok coach. (Hoor Hoor Heneke very well said indeed. Time to whip the nz world chumpions!!)

And Meyer will get his first chance at hunting the No 1 spot when South Africa take on England in a three-Test series starting on June 9 in Durban.

IRB world rankings (top 10):

1 New Zealand (91.43)
2 Australia (87.99)
3 South Africa (84.34)
4 France (84.20)
5 Wales (82.62)
6 England (81.34)
7 Ireland (80.30)
8 Argentina (80.28)
9 Tonga (76.63)
10 Samoa (75.81)

 

Meyer must follow the Jake model. The only trouble Jake had was that we had very little depth, so keeping his strongest side fresh was a problem. He did nearly win back-to-back TNs titles and only sacrificed the TNs in 2007, though his second string sides were highly competitive away.

@dur

Boet, we where thumped away from home in 2007.

Remember the hiding we got from Oz when Spies made his debut!

That loss was in 2006, that after alot of injuries. The away game against Australia in 2007 we actually led 17-0 at half-time! Against New Zealand we held them to a score of 13-6 until last seven minutes where they scored a quick burst of three tries. So it was actually very competitive!

Note the Meyer emphasies on winning every game. I like that. No more WC excuses etc.

By next year one would expect the results to be there. This year he will need a bit of luck to get it all right first time around.