The World Rugby No 1 ranking will be on the line when the All Blacks and Springboks clash at Eden Park on Saturday.
New Zealand, unbeaten at the Auckland fortress since 1994, go into the Rugby Championship match as the top-ranked side, just ahead of Rassie Erasmus’ charges.
Avoiding defeat at Eden Park, something only the Boks and British & Irish Lions have managed in the past 31 years, would be enough to take South Africa back to No 1 – 0.03 rating points ahead of New Zealand.
Victory would not only end the All Blacks’ 50-match unbeaten run at the venue but also return the Boks to the summit they surrendered after losing to the Wallabies at Ellis Park last month.
On the flipside, a New Zealand win of any kind would see the Boks slip to third, behind Ireland. A victory by more than 15 points would stretch the All Blacks’ advantage over Ireland to 1.83 rating points.
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Elsewhere, the Wallabies and Argentina are fighting for sixth place in Saturday’s curtain-raiser in Townsville.
Australia can’t rise higher, but defeat would drop them to seventh.
A draw would leave both teams unmoved, although Los Pumas would gain 0.45 points with the Wallabies losing the same amount.
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World Rugby rankings
1. New Zealand 90.72
2. South Africa 90.01
3. Ireland 89.83
4. France 87.82
5. England 87.64
6. Australia 84.85
7. Argentina 83.40
8. Scotland 81.57
9. Fiji 80.50
10. Italy 77.77
Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images
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