New Zealand have edged closer to South Africa in the World Rugby rankings after they utterly demolished Australia to retain the Bledisloe Cup.
The Wallabies went into the clash at Eden Park high on confidence after a five-match unbeaten run but they were outplayed by Dave Rennie’s men on Saturday.
They kept it close at the break thanks to tries from Tom Wright and Harry Wilson but the All Blacks, who led 17-14 at the interval, pulled away in the second period.
Peter Lakai and Tupou Vaa’i went over in the first half for the men in black before they touched down five times in the final 40 minutes.
Cam Roigard, Codie Taylor, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby and Will Jordan all crossed the whitewash as New Zealand reach the half-century in a 50-19 thrashing to keep their unbeaten run at Eden Park alive, which stretches back to 1994.
How the Bledisloe Cup impacted the standings
With the All Blacks winning by a 31-point margin, they added 0.66 to their rating to go from 91.15 to 91.81, leaving them just over a point behind the Springboks, who sit on 93.09.
That gap stood at almost four points following the conclusion of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, which saw the back-to-back world champions win three Tests in a row to overcome Rennie’s side 3-1 in the series.
However, it has closed significantly after the Wallabies’ triumph over the Boks in late-September and the All Blacks’ success on Saturday.
Providing they get through next weekend’s encounter unscathed, the All Blacks may fancy their chances of finishing the year as the number one ranked team in the world.
Next up following the Bledisloe Cup is the Nations Championship and the Boks appear to have tougher games on paper with trips to Ireland and France in November.
As for the Wallabies, they maintain their position of sixth place in the standings despite the heavy defeat to their arch-rivals.
They drop from 85.55 to 84.89, just 0.11 ahead of the Scotland, who are currently in seventh position in the World Rugby rankings.
Another defeat next weekend will see them slip behind the Scots and leave them with plenty of work to do in the Nations Championship.
Australia could have moved into fourth with a victory by more than 15 points, their highest ranking since November 2021, but they go nowhere near.
World Rugby men’s rankings
1 South Africa 93.09
2 New Zealand 91.81
3 Ireland 88.08
4 France 87.43
5 England 85.68
6 Australia 84.89
7 Scotland 84.78
8 Argentina 82.24
9 Japan 77.28
10 Fiji 76.81
11 Wales 76.38
12 Italy 76.30
13 Georgia 73.94
14 Portugal 69.39
15 USA 67.58
16 Chile 66.94
17 Spain 66.83
18 Uruguay 65.75
19 Tonga 65.14
20 Samoa 64.73