All Blacks Reach Highest Ever World Rugby Ranking

New Zealand have scaled the highest peak in the history of rugby’s world rankings, with the All Blacks having 96.10 points after their Rugby World Cup victory against No.2-ranked Australia in the final at Twickenham on Saturday.

Their points tally is the highest attained by any team in the complex rankings system introduced in 2003. The All Blacks held the previous highest tallies, having reached 95.01 points midway through 2007 and 94.77 in late 2010.

Australia retain second place, some distance back on 89.33 points, with South Africa still third. The leading rankings won’t change until the 2016 Six Nations beginning in February.