South Africa have slipped to third place in the International Rugby Board (IRB) rankings after their fourth defeat in five Tri-Nations matches on Saturday, when they lost to Australia in Durban.
This is the Springboks’ lowest position since they took number-one slot after the World Cup.
The slide follows the Boks’ third successive loss, and their second on home soil for the first time in a Tri-Nations season.
Australia, in a poor third place when the season started, have moved into second place.
Another loss to Australia this weekend would see the Boks drop further in points in the rankings, but they would still go into their November tour to the United Kingdom in third place.
A Springbok victory on Saturday will see the Springboks overtake Australia to regain the second place.
Argentina and England still occupy the fourth and fifth places.
The rankings at the end of this year’s international season will be used to determine the Rugby World Cup seedings for the 2011 tournament in New Zealand.
IRB World Rankings released on Monday are: (position [last week], country, points): 1(1) New Zealand 91,21; 2(3) Australia 87,75; 3(2) South Africa 86,1; 4(4) Argentina 83,36; 5(5) England 83,16; 6(6) Wales 80,12; 7(7) France 78,99; 8(8) Ireland 77,18; 9(9) Scotland 76,92; 10(10) Italy 75,57. — Sapa