Subjective comments about the latest World Rugby Rankings
Guest 1 March 2005 14:18:08
Subjective comments about the latest World Rugby Rankings
The surprising first month of the Six Nations Championship saw Ireland jump two places, to 4th in the rankings, following its win over England. If Ireland can now go on to beat both France and Wales, it will have - in the last year - beaten all of the world's major teams except NZ and Australia, and could move up to 2nd place in the rankings.
Wales, on the other hand, is perhaps a bit unlucky not to gain in the rankings, following its wins over England and France. However, last month's win over England was only the first in the last six matches between them. Also, in recent years Wales has consistently lost to South Africa - a team that in turn has consistently lost to England.
Subjective comments about the latest World Rugby Rankings
The final rounds of the Six Nations Championship produced no changes in the rankings. Wales supporters will undoubtedly whine profusely about their team's failure to advance in the rankings, despite beating England, France and Ireland this year. As I explained last month, there are two reasons why Wales failed to advance. First, their win over England was only the first in the last six matches between them. Also, in recent years, Wales has consistently lost to South Africa - a team that in turn has consistently lost to England.
finlayson@delete-this.live.com wrote:> Wales supporters will> undoubtedly whine profusely about their team's failure to> advance in the rankings, despite beating England, France> and Ireland this year.
<ahem> and Argentina...
Of course we appreciate that this is a "weighted" scale. You have to admit, though, that just at the moment, because of its refusal to react to "sudden" movements, it looks a little silly. Of course Wales have only beaten England and Ireland once each out of many recent attempts; but if the three played each other every day for the next fortnight, few observers would expect many English or Irish wins.
This system is not at its best during times of dramatic upheaval in the status quo. Once the "new order" - if there is to be one - stabilises, your system will start looking sensible and fair once more. Until then, here's one Welsh fan who'll cut you some slack!
Rob Stradling wrote:> finlayson@delete-this.live.com wrote:>
Wales supporters will>> undoubtedly whine profusely about their team's failure to>> advance in the rankings, despite beating England, France>> and Ireland this year. >
<ahem> and Argentina... >
Of course we appreciate that this is a "weighted" scale. You have to > admit, though, that just at the moment, because of its refusal to react > to "sudden" movements, it looks a little silly. Of course Wales have > only beaten England and Ireland once each out of many recent attempts; > but if the three played each other every day for the next fortnight, few > observers would expect many English or Irish wins.>
This system is not at its best during times of dramatic upheaval in the > status quo. Once the "new order" - if there is to be one - stabilises, > your system will start looking sensible and fair once more. Until then, > here's one Welsh fan who'll cut you some slack!
Who cares about the rankings? Not this Welshman. As long as we go on winning, I don't give a toss. Until we get to the top, then they'll be the most important table in World Rugby.
Rob Stradling wrote:>> finlayson@delete-this.live.com wrote:
This system is not at its best during times of dramatic upheaval in the >> status quo. Once the "new order" - if there is to be one - stabilises, >> your system will start looking sensible and fair once more. Until then, >> here's one Welsh fan who'll cut you some slack!
Who cares about the rankings? Not this Welshman. As long as we go on >winning, I don't give a toss. Until we get to the top, then they'll be >the most important table in World Rugby.
If we ask Ross nicely, he might plot a graph of the ratings over the last few years, as he's done in the past? No surprises which team will be the big dropper, and Wales might well be beginning to show a trend upwards.
Subjective comments about the latest World Rugby Rankings
With the major nations quiet until June, our attention turns to the countries further down the table.
The biggest gainer last month was Belgium, following its victory over the Netherlands. Serbia-Montenegro aldo gained, following its victory over Malta. Japan fell four places, following its loss to Uruguay.
Subjective comments about the latest World Rugby Rankings
With the major nations out of action again last month, all of the action last month came from minor nations' World Cup qualifying matches, plus some 'friendly' internationals (such as Japan's win over Georgia, which caused Georgia to drop three places in the rankings).
Other significant changes in the rankings came from Hong Kong's win over Sri Lanka, Norway's win over Luxembourg, and Lithuania's win over Hungary.
Paraguay has been removed from the rankings, because it has not played enough games against other ranked teams within the last four years.
On Mon, 5 Jun 2006 07:30:50 GMT, finlayson@delete-this.live555.com wrote:
Subjective comments about the latest World Rugby Rankings>
With the major nations out of action again last month, all>of the action last month came from minor nations' World Cup>qualifying matches, plus some 'friendly' internationals>(such as Japan's win over Georgia, which caused Georgia to>drop three places in the rankings).>
Other significant changes in the rankings came from Hong Kong's>win over Sri Lanka, Norway's win over Luxembourg, and Lithuania's>win over Hungary.>
Paraguay has been removed from the rankings, because it>has not played enough games against other ranked teams>within the last four years.
What do Morocco have to do to get into the rankings? Going by the IRB rankings they're set to qualify for RWC as Africa 1 if they beat Namibia...
Charlie -- Remove NO-SPOO-PLEASE from my email address to reply Please send no unsolicited email or foodstuffs
For a team to be ranked, it needs to have played, within the last four years, a total of at least five matches against at least three already-ranked teams.
(Currently, Morocco has played only 3 recent matches against just one already-ranked team (Namibia).)
Subjective comments about the latest World Rugby Rankings
The top-ranked teams were out of action last month; they return in November. Instead, October saw several of the lower-ranked teams competing (including, in some cases, World Cup qualifying matches).
Several teams dropped in the rankings last month, including Russia (following its loss to Portugal), Armenia (following its loss to Sweden; its win over Belgium two years ago was apparently a fluke), and Bosnia (following its loss to Finland).
<finlayson@delete-this.live555.com> wrote in message news:cI2dnWeB2JIxVOjYnZ2dnUVZ_umdnZ2d@megapath.net...> Subjective comments about the latest World Rugby Rankings>
Noevember was a busy month, with the world's top 15 teams> (except for Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, which were combined as> the Pacific Islands) touring the Northern Hemisphere.
Subjective comments about the latest World Rugby Rankings
With its win over Argentina and England in the Rugby World Cup, South Africa climbed to 2nd place in the rankings. Despite losing to France, New Zealand retains its #1 ranking, because NZ retains a time-weighted recent winning record against every other opponent (including France). Despite losing to England in the semi-finals, France remains above England in the rankings, in part because of France's superior recent performances against Ireland.
