Europe regroup, mostly, but South Africa remain at the top

In the third weekend of the Autumn Internationals, two of the European sides gained hard fought victories over southern hemisphere powerhouses and another two took on rising European teams in matches that augur well for the future of the international game.

Ireland steadied the ship after last week’s loss to the All Blacks by beating a tough Argentina side 20-19 at the Aviva in Dublin. Scotland recovered from their thrilling loss to South Africa by thumping emerging Portugal 52-19 at Murrayfield. England continued to struggle against the world’s top sides losing 20-29 to South Africa at Twickenham. In the last 5 years, England have lost a Word Cup Final, a World Cup Semi Final and now an Autumn International to the Springboks. The games have been tight but the South Africans always find a way to win. Generally, England has much to work on with only 4 wins out of their last 11 major internationals and the upcoming Six Nations In February 2025 will have everyone under the spotlight.

France pipped the All Blacks in another tight match in Paris 30-29 and Australia continued their recent resurgence putting 52 points against 20 past Wales in Cardiff.

And in a sign that European rugby is growing from the bottom, Georgia gave Italy a stiff test including 2 scintillating tries before losing 20-17 in Genoa.

So South Africa continue to show remarkable skill, depth and resilience and reinforce their #1 ranking in world rugby. With just one match left in 2024, against Wales in Cardiff, only a Welsh miracle will stop them closing the year on a dominant high.

After this weekend’s results, the World Rankings have only seen a minor change; South Africa stay at #1 but New Zealand drop to #3, replaced by Ireland at #2. The other rankings are: 4) France; 5) Argentina; 6) Scotland; 7) England; 8) Australia; 9) Fiji; 10) Italy.

Next up: (11/22) France vs. Argentina; (11/23) Ireland vs. Fiji; Wales vs. S. Africa; Italy vs. New Zealand; (11/24) Scotland vs. Australia; England vs. Japan. Streaming Live and with all replays on Peacock.