South Africa will finish the 2016 season in sixth position in the World Rugby rankings after suffering eight defeats in 12 Tests this year.

The Springboks were ranked fifth before Saturday’s match in Cardiff, but following the 27-13 loss to Wales, their rating points tally was reduced by 0.7 of a point from 82.49 to 81.79. The decrease sees the Boks dropping from fifth to sixth behind their conquerers Wales, who secured just their third win against South Africa.

Making matters worse for Allister Coetzee’s side, is the fact that Scotland bettered their rating by one tenth of a point after beating Georgia. The Scots are now just 1.12 points behind South Africa, who are in danger of slipping to ninth by the end of next year’s Six Nations.

Elsewhere, the top three – New Zealand, England and Australia – remain unchanged. But the Wallabies’ 27-24 loss to Ireland cost them 1.17 rankings points. The result also earned fourth-ranked Ireland an improved rating of 84.62.

In the only other change to the top 15, Tonga rise to 14th spot after their 19-17 win over Italy.

World Rugby rankings (Top 15)

1. New Zealand 94.78
2. England 89.84
3. Australia 86.97
4. Ireland 84.62
5. Wales 
82.55
6. South Africa 81.79
7. Scotland 80.67
8. France 80.13
9. Argentina 79.91
10. Fiji 76.46
11. Japan 74.22
12. Georgia 74.14
13. Italy 72.47
14. Tonga 71.94
15. Samoa 71.25

Full rankings

How the rankings work

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