All Blacks, Scotland lose out due to Argentina’s Rugby Championship heroics

Argentina’s reward for their thrilling victory against the All Blacks in Wellington is a one-place rise in the latest World Rugby Men’s Rankings.

Veteran hooker Agustín Creevy powered over for a late try at Sky Stadium on Saturday before Santiago Carreras wrapped up a 38-30 win with an even later penalty to give Los Pumas a dream start to The Rugby Championship.

It was only the second time Los Pumas have beaten the All Blacks on New Zealand soil and will lift them up one place to sixth in the rankings when they are updated at 12:00 BST on Monday.

Argentina gained two points for the win, meaning they are now just 1.76 points behind England in fifth ahead of Saturday’s rematch at Eden Park.

Scotland were the big losers as a result of events in Wellington as Gregor Townsend’s side slip to seventh in the rankings despite not playing.

Not only did they cede sixth place, but Scotland are now 0.83 points adrift of Los Pumas.

The All Blacks, meanwhile, remain third but the gap between them and fourth-placed France is down to 1.42 points.

New Zealand lost two rating points in defeat, meaning they are now 4.73 points adrift of the world’s number one team, South Africa.

Scott Robertson will be confident he can pick up a first competitive win as All Blacks coach on Saturday, however, as they return to Eden Park – a ground where New Zealand have not lost since 1994.

Meanwhile, the Springboks did not pick up any points for their routine 33-7 defeat of Australia in Brisbane and therefore remain 0.99 points ahead of second-placed Ireland.