Rugby World Cup 2015: Power Ranking Teams Going into Final Weekend

It's comforting to know the two most deserving teams will line up in the final of the Rugby World Cup 2015 after New Zealand and Australia defeated South Africa and Argentina, respectively, to book Saturday's climax.

Both the Springboks and the Pumas made valiant efforts in their bids to advance to the Twickenham decider, and neither team should regret the exciting manner in which they exited the running after leaving it all on the pitch.

Heading into Saturday's crescendo, we've taken a final run at the Rugby World Cup power rankings, but be sure to check out last week's edition for insight into how the order has changed in the wake of two classic semi-finals.

Eliminated Teams

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

20. Uruguay: No Movement

19. Namibia: No Movement

18. Canada: No Movement

17. United States: No Movement

16. Romania: No Movement

15. Tonga: No Movement

14. Samoa: No Movement

12= Georgia: No Movement

12= Italy: No Movement

11. Fiji: No Movement

10. Japan: No Movement

9. England: No Movement

8. France: No Movement

7. Scotland: No Movement

6. Ireland: No Movement

5. Wales: No Movement

4. Argentina

Movement: No Movement

Argentina earned the hearts of neutrals everywhere after blitzing their way past Ireland in the quarters, and even though the same positive approach was taken to Australia, avoidable errors ended up letting them down.

The first-minute interception went a long way in summarising the Pumas as a nation contending for top honours—full of passion and fire but still lacking in big-game experience.

Pundit Stuart Barnes wrote for the Times that "basic sense" was sacrificed in pursuit of something more dazzling on Sunday, and it became hard to disagree as they were left frustrated by a superb Wallabies defence.

The Pumas still find themselves at the end of the calm spectrum—at least among the semi-finalists—when it comes to taking one's time, playing the phases and biding time in search of the elusive gaps.

That being said, they certainly have the talent emerging to keep contesting in future, with the likes of Santiago Cordero, 21, and Tomas Lavanini, 22, among those leading the next generation of Pumas players.

3. South Africa

Movement: Down One

South Africa put on a defensive masterclass for parts of the 20-18 defeat to New Zealand on Saturday, a display that could have so easily gone in their favour had they only brought more guile in attack.

And yet despite the fine margins of that two-point loss, it was almost hard to watch Heyneke Meyer's side pound their way at the All Blacks' gates and struggle to make any headway.

Ex-Springbok Naas Botha foretold the one-dimensional nature of South Africa's performance in possession when talking to ESPN Scrum's Tom Hamilton in July:

"

We are obsessed with getting over the advantage line. You can do it in other ways! You can drift and beat the defender instead of just running over the man. If you have a tree in front of you, you go around the branches rather than straight into the trunk of the tree. We have the ball players to do that.

"

There were parts of South Africa's World Cup, as much against Wales as New Zealand, where the team appeared to be operating with a strategy of "I'm bigger than you and that's enough."

The Springboks were the only semi-finalists not to make 100 carries or more in this year's semi-finals, per ESPN Scrum. They made just 149 metres in attack, less than half of any other team to make the final four.

2. Australia

Movement: Up One

Australia make a final surge up the order, but it's not enough to claim the throne as their own heading into the final, although a very attractive performance against the Pumas might have seen them do so.

In the end, though, what prevents the Wallabies from topping the rankings was a lack of consistent defensive structure and overall grip of the game after surrendering a majority of possession to Daniel Hourcade's men.

Ex-England international Will Carling agreed Australia's display was a "schizophrenic" mix between the brilliant and the shocking, and it wasn't until Adam Ashley-Cooper's late third try that the game truly looked to be theirs.

There's a chance Michael Cheika's side could be considered the best attacking team in the tournament when at their most fluid, but we are at the stage where defence decides games, and that may be their shortfall.

1. New Zealand

Movement: No Movement

For the first time throughout this World Cup, the top four of our power rankings match that of the official World Rugby rankings, and it's no surprise to see the All Blacks retain their place atop the perch.

It was touch and go for patches of Saturday's 20-18 victory over the Boks, and New Zealand's indiscipline would have cost them a fall in our rundown had they not managed to turn things around in the second half.

Thankfully for coach Steve Hansen, that's exactly what they did and South Africa were limited to just two penalties in the final 40 minutes, with New Zealand accounting for the only two tries scored.

Australia coach Cheika insisted the reigning world champions will enter Saturday's curtain call as firm favourites to win, per the Press Association (h/t ESPN.co.uk):

"

They are obviously the world's number one. We've only beaten them once in the last 10 matches. So they'll be feeling they've got our measure and it's going to be up to us to do something special, something extra just to be competitive. So we'll see how we go.

We've got to improve massively from what we did today, to even be in the hunt next week. We'll pick two or three things and try to make those things better. When you've got a team like New Zealand with so many threats, who are so well-drilled and have such a great coach you have to be working hard all the time.

"

It's difficult to ascertain which semi-finalist made for the more difficult opponent this weekend—South Africa or Argentina—considering one was a tough defensive beast, while the Pumas were more malleable and threatening in attack.

In the end, though, what was perhaps most impressive from the All Blacks was to see them overcome their own first-half demons, thanks in large part to what were surely some stern half-time words from Hansen.