All Blacks slide down world rankings after South Africa loss
The All Blacks have fallen down the world rugby rankings after their 35-7 loss to South Africa on Saturday.
They are now one place away from their lowest ever ranking, falling two spots to sit at fourth place.
Above them are France at three, South Africa at two, with Ireland remaining the top ranked team.
The All Blacks were at their lowest ranking in August last year when England pushed them into fifth spot.
However the recent shellacking at the hands of the Boks hasn't seen their betting odds take a dent. The TAB still have the boys in black with the shortest odds to lift the World Cup in France this year at $3.50.
Next in line is France, backed to do the business on home soil at $4.00, then South Africa at $4.50.
It comes as All Blacks captain Sam Cane today lifted the lid on the “horrible” feeling within the camp created by the record loss to the Springboks.
“It’s pretty easy to focus on the work, particularly coming off the game we just had at the weekend,” Cane said, adding: “It was a horrible feeling on Friday night and the next day.
“With a couple of days to settle I think we’ll look back and hopefully take the lessons we have from the game and implement them… then I really hope that we can look back and say we’re glad it happened when it did. But only time will tell.”
The review will have highlighted no shortage of things to work on for the All Blacks, who defended well initially after getting on the wrong side of referee Matt Carley, but who lost the physical battle badly after Tyrel Lomax’s injury departure, and the yellow (and red) cards for Barrett and Cane.
“We’ve got some really clear focuses,” Cane said.
“We’ve gone from London to here and when we touch down in France and get to Lyon [for a further camp before the first game in Paris] we know it’s really on and the excitement will build even further.”
Asked about the rising anticipation levels, he said: “I think it’s probably natural. The build up has been a long time coming. There is a lot riding on it. We know that but we’re pretty excited by the challenge and we know that anything can happen.
“All our efforts are going into nailing this first game and we’ll reset and continue that path. It’s cool that it’s finally here."
The All Blacks' world cup campaign gets underway against France on Saturday, September 9 in a 7.15am NZ time kick-off.
