New Zealand have extended their cushion at the top of the latest IRB World Rankings after scoring 14 unanswered points in the final quarter to beat Australia 23-22 at the ANZ Stadium on Saturday in the last Tri Nations match of 2010.
The All Blacks had long since wrapped up the title, but victory
in Sydney ensured the first ever clean sweep since the Tri Nations
was expanded and the first by any country since 2003, not to
mention a record 10th consecutive win over the Wallabies.
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Richie McCaw, leading the All Blacks for a record 52nd time to surpass Sean Fitzpatrick's mark, kick-started the revival with a 67th minute try before Kieran Read crashed over, giving Piri Weepu the match-winning kick.
The victory, New Zealand's 15th consecutive test win,
increases the All Blacks' rating by just under five tenths to
94.77 and means they now sit 9.21 rating points above Australia in
the latest IRB World Rankings.
Australia remain second despite their fourth defeat of the
2010 Tri Nations, albeit now only 0.34 rating points above South
Africa, the 2009 champions having picked up the wooden spoon after
only one victory.
With five defeats from six matches, South Africa have seen their rating plummet by 4.24 points over the course of the Tri Nations, in comparison to Australia's gain of 1.15 points and New Zealand's increase of 3.09.
This tournament has therefore had a significant impact on New Zealand's cushion at the top of the IRB World Rankings, which has increased more than four-fold from 2.22 points to its current 9.21.
The healthy cushion, however, is still a little shy of the biggest ever advantage the number one ranked side has enjoyed - 9.41 points by New Zealand over France back on 25 June 2007. They would have surpassed this had they won in Sydney by more than 15 points.
