All Blacks back on top of the world after win over Argentina

REUTERS: New Zealand snatched South Africa’s world number one ranking and placed one hand on the Rugby Championship trophy after subjecting Argentina to a second successive thrashing within a week in Brisbane on Saturday.

The All Blacks’ 36-13 bonus-point victory in front of 38,000 at Lang Park extended their lead to 10 points over second-placed South Africa in the Rugby Championship table while knocking Argentina and Australia out of the tournament.

South Africa, beaten 30-17 by Australia in the first match of Saturday’s double-header, will need to defeat New Zealand twice and pile on the tries in their last two matches to earn bonus points to have any hope of stealing the silverware.

The scale of the Springboks’ task was underlined as a second-string All Blacks team ran over five tries to notch their fourth win from four matches in a dominant campaign.