I am not a huge rugby fan, but this is taking the piss, who the hell comes up with this crap ? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/15442324.stm
It's mental isn't it? Wales are undoubtedly the best NH side. France ground their way through but I wouldn't begrudge being 5th to their 4th as they made the final. I still think we're a better team though.
Its the usual ranking nonsense. There is no point even looking them. just look at the football ones. dont know which are worse. wales up 45 places by winning 1 game. dont know why they even bother with the rankings. absolute cr*p
I will tell you why...Its because we keep losing to top sides, we did not beat one top side in the world cup and that reflects the Rankin's, Ireland beat Australia and that counts, nearly winning counts for nothing and wales achieved nothing as they lost to every top team that count, that would have improved their Rankin's if they did....So the places are correct,
I'd like to correct you there Dai, we technical did beat a top side! We beat SA, but one stupid ref, wasn't wearing his specs, and we had 3 point stolen off us, comes to something when you kick the ball between the post, and get nowt!................... please log in to view this image
Well dai using that reasoning explain england then ? They didn't beat anyone of note yet they are above Wales despite losing and being knocked out at an earlier stage than us.
It's exactly the same reason why Argentina stayed so high in the rankings after the last world cup....easy really. If a team does not play, it stays on the same points. In lay mans terms....If a team plays, the winning team gets ranking points and the losing team loses the same amount of ranking points. In the World Cup games the points lost/gained are approximately double a normal competitive match (you do get bonus points if the team you beat is ranked above you or you beat them by 15 points). Hence Argentina stayed high on the rankings after the last world cup because they did not play much after the world cup. So as such, Wales got shafted by the system as they lost to (at the time the game was played) a lower ranked French and Australian team...... if they had taken the option of just not playing at a semi-final stage and then not losing twice thereafter..... they would be third.... CRAZY!!!!!! Wales would have gone either higher in the rankings initially if thety had managed to kick one of those extra goals and beat Irealnd by 15. Unlike the world cup football, no points are actually awarded for where the team finishes up...it is purely game based. Considering Wales will play Australia 4 times in the next year and also a six nations, unless we go unbeaten don't expect much of a rise in position! However if Wales played a great six nations and then beat USA, Romania, Argentina etc then we would climb up there. Basically.... the laws an arse, however..... ....more importantly, it shows how great the NZ team is to stay up there at the top for so long!
There is a great line on the 'IRB rankings explained' page which basically says they do not recognise gallant losers as achieving anything apart from a loss. They do not recognise losing bonus points despite it being in place in every competitive league the world over. Wales lost 3 games, if they had beaten France and lost to a much higher rated NZ team by less than 15 points, we would be 2nd/3rd now...... but we got beat!
PS this is the same IRB who clearly stated that Sam our captain, could have done no more in an incident that took less than 0.5 seconds but still deserved to be banned......I quote their cover up artiste Christopher Quinlan QC their "independent judicial officer" Quinlan said: "I did not lose sight of the fact that I was dealing with a player, who at the age of 23, has led his country at the most prestigious and important tournament in world rugby with distinction. I am acutely aware that to suspend him would be a sad and inglorious end to the tournament he has graced with great playing ability and leadership........His (Warburton's) intention was to execute a lawful tackle and get himself into a 'textbook' position. At the point of contact, he was surprised by how little resistance he met. "He lifted F14 and then his bodyweight and momentum took over. As F14 headed downwards, he (Warburton) instinctively thought the safest thing to do was to let go because he was concerned had he maintained his hold he might have driven the player into the ground. He said he acted without malice and denied twisting the player in mid air." Basically FU Wales.......we back our referees red card, ignore the laws of physics and now ban him for 3 weeks!
i know the way the rankings work as i was a rugby player and i have family who has played top class rugby also my first cousin has welsh caps. to move up the Rankin's you have to beat a top ranked team, you get nothing for beating teams well below you, England are above us as they have beaten top sides, Ireland have beaten a top side, we have beaten nobody that count in the last year , so strange as it may seem we have dropped a place. if we can beat Australia in January and Ireland and England lose then we may find that we will jump up a few places, It will seem very complicated if you don't know how the system works but at the end of the day its only the No1 spot that counts and the other places don't matter...
as I said..... all hail the Kiwi's! As long as we can finish top 4 in 2 years time or worst case top 8 it just makes a better draw for the next world cup..... that's all the rankings do!
