The French XV may have been one of the rare big names in world Rugby to have achieved a flawless performance during the autumn tests, but these good results are not reflected in the IRB rankings.
And one that makes three. After teaching Japan a lesson then dominating New Zealand at the last minute the previous weekend, the French XV completed the autumn tests with a quiet victory against Argentina. After a one-sided first half, the Blues won 37-23 against the Pumas.
Fabien Galthié's men may nevertheless regret their relaxation in the final minutes of the match. This victory would indeed have been more lucrative in the world rankings, a success in fact paying more when acquired with a gap of 15 points.
The XV of France sees the podium slip away
Despite its three successes in three matches, France has not seen its ranking change in recent weeks, remaining stuck in fourth place. She just saw her number of points increase with 88.08 units compared to 86.96. On the other hand, his gap over third has widened further. While they were 1.74 points behind the Blacks, the Blues are now 2.01!
The situation necessarily appears paradoxical as France dominated New Zealand. But the Blacks played three other matches against two for the Blues, winning successively against England (24-22), Ireland (23-13) and Italy (29-11).
For the rest, South Africa, also the author of a flawless record with three victories in three matches against Scotland (32-15), England (29-20) and Wales (45 -12) took advantage of this tour to regain first place, ahead of Ireland. Failing to get closer to the podium, France widened the gap with fifth place, Argentina, who overtook England, scoring 2.28 points.
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