Ireland unexpectedly returned to the top of the rugby World Rankings this week, after South Africa's surprise defeat to Argentina in La Plata.
The Springboks took an early 17-0 lead against Los Pumas before falling to a thrilling 29-28 defeat to leave the fate of the Rugby Championship undecided going into the final weekend.
It was only South Africa's second defeat since last summer's Rugby World Cup but, with the convoluted system in place, it led to them losing 1.6 points in the ranking system - enough to put them behind Andy Farrell's Ireland.
The sudden change in the positioning of the World Rankings is not something that has gone down well with Boks fans.
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South Africa fans frustrated by Ireland's world rankings ascension
The system for World Rugby's ranking points is a complicated one and one which tends to punish teams at the top end of the table more than reward them.
With South Africa top of the world rankings since winning the World Cup last October, their chances of winning ranking points from games against teams ranked far lower than them (Argentina entered Saturday's clash in seventh) are dramatically decreased.
So it came to pass that the Pumas' dramatic one-point victory over the team ranked in first not only moved them up a place but saw South Africa slip behind Ireland once again.
From winning their test series in New Zealand in the summer of 2022, right up to their defeat to the same opposition in last year's Rugby World Cup quarter-final, Ireland sat in top spot, and they once again find themselves there despite not having played a game since early July.
Of course, that last game played by Ireland was a dramatic late win on South African soil - but that has not abated the frustration of Springbok fans online since the latest update to the World Rankings.
Joined by fans of other countries such as Wales and New Zealand, some South Africa fans have expressed frustration that the current rankings system seemingly punishes those at the top excessively harshly while failing to reward them for victories.
Some fans pointed out that back-to-back wins over the All Blacks did not reward South Africa with any ranking points, while others took issue with Ireland resuming top spot without having kicked a ball.
Rankings are designed for Ireland. They can keep it for the next 3 years.
It doesn't make sense— Takalani 🇿🇦 (@djstago) September 23, 2024
This is why the rankings are only relevant during the year prior to RWC.
It's #fakenews to say Ireland could be given credit for three Test matches, while the Springboks win 6/8 matches to date, only to be overtaken by the Irish - who aren't playing.
Shambles😕#rugbychat https://t.co/o7jo0AJoYx— scott hornell (@scotthornell73) September 23, 2024
Still makes no sense since the boks didn’t receive any ranking points for the 4 victories before. Utterly ridiculous
— Brendon Kassel (@BrendonKassel) September 24, 2024
Ireland can keep their number 1, we will keep our 4 RWCs 💯 https://t.co/4i6P47sH1M
— Khanya_Siluma (@SilumaKhanya) September 24, 2024
Best quarterfinalists ever!
— Ryan (@_One___Love____) September 23, 2024
Rugby world rankings are a joke. Has no consideration for reality how can Ireland be number one, when only last year could not get past quarter finals in world cup. This weekend Aus 10th only lost to NZ in 3rd by 2pts. There has to be better system. https://t.co/X7HsD34gWu
— TSH (@TSH2020nurse) September 23, 2024
Seems Ireland get their very best results when they don’t play at all. They should try to do more of this. https://t.co/VOJSRNuSr9
— Jacques Maree (@JacquesMaree73) September 23, 2024
In fairness, you would not be hard-pressed to find Irish rugby fans who are similarly bemused by the team's ascension to number one in the World Rankings.
Ireland's overtaking of South Africa in top spot came on the one-year anniversary of their epic victory over the Springboks in Paris during the 2023 World Cup pool stages. One could argue that Ireland having beaten South Africa in two of their three meetings over the past year may somewhat explain their positioning in the rankings. One could perhaps more reasonably point out that South Africa did indeed win the World Cup last autumn.
And, for the vast majority of Springbok fans, that is by far the more important accolade.
