Wales move up despite loss
24 Nov 2008
Wales are the only movers in the top 10 of the world rankings – even though the All Blacks gave them a 29-9 hiding.
The Dragons swap places with France, who also went down this weekend, 18-13 to Australia. The Springboks’ record-breaking win over England at Twickenham has seen them close the gap on the All Blacks, but they are still a long way behind the No 1 ranked team, while Australia at the same time closed in on the Boks.
The southern hemisphere trio are a long way ahead of the chasing pack.
This weekend’s Tests between Wales and Australia as well as England/New Zealand conclude the autumn internationals. With the draw for the 2011 World Cup imminent, these Tests provide the final opportunity for teams to climb up the world rankings.
The seedings for the World Cup in New Zealand will be gauged on the rankings released next Monday.
IRB World Rankings:
1 New Zealand 92.43 rating points
2 South Africa 89.45
3 Australia 87.34
4 Argentina 81.56
5 England 81.11
6 Wales 79.55
7 France 79.49
8 Ireland 78.45
9 Scotland 76.76
10 Fiji 75.24
31 Comments
24 Nov 2008, 15:34 pm
Ascension Dragons
24 Nov 2008, 15:37 pm
You cant keep a good Dragon down
24 Nov 2008, 15:39 pm
Well the top 3 are set.
Wales can move up to 4th spot if they beat Aus by more than 15 points.
Aus cannot catch SA.
24 Nov 2008, 16:00 pm
how does the seedings work?
group A: 1,5,9
group B: 2,6,10
group C: 3,7,11
group D: 4,8,12
?
24 Nov 2008, 16:00 pm
#3 PissAnt: How does the draw work for the upcoming world cup? Does the top 4 get seeded first in the 4 groups and then the rest of the teams just fall in randomly?
24 Nov 2008, 16:02 pm
This means Argentina will have a good chance of progressing to the next round because they are one of the seeded teams.
24 Nov 2008, 16:03 pm
#5 iori Yagami: IMO, that’s exactly how it will work – 1st to 4th placed on top of A-D pools and teams from all other seeds randomly chosen.
24 Nov 2008, 16:04 pm
#6 iori Yagami: I have a feeling that Pumas will get France and Ireland AGAIN.
24 Nov 2008, 16:04 pm
apologies, that is not possible! then either France or Ireland.
24 Nov 2008, 16:05 pm
#5 iori Yagami: I’m not sure either, saw some1 saying that it’s 1 and 8, 2 and 7, 3 and 6, 4 and 5. But I’ve got no idea.
Would have been nice if Grant had this as part of this article though!
24 Nov 2008, 16:06 pm
#5 iori Yagami:
Yes top 4 occupy positions 1 in each group (4 groups).
The next four is then divided up into the 4 groups too, I think 8 in group A with #1, 7 in group B with number 2 etc.
Then the remaining two spots in each group is filled through teams qualifying in their specific regional WC qualifying matches.
24 Nov 2008, 16:09 pm
#9 Nils: Either one should be interesting. I heard that the Ireland-Arg game was ill-tempered. What happened?
24 Nov 2008, 16:10 pm
#11 PissAnt: If that’s the case and the rankings stay as is, we’ll play France…
24 Nov 2008, 16:10 pm
#11 PissAnt: Oh ok I see. I just hope we dont get England again.
24 Nov 2008, 16:12 pm
Okat sorry here is how it works.
Top 4 are the top (line 1) teams in each of the 4 pools.
4 to 8 are then drawn (line 2) into each of the pools to – a random draw from my understanding.
8 to 12 are also drawn into the pools (line 3) – randomly.
teams 4 to 8 will definately play (a) team in the top 4 during the pool stages.
There are 5 teams in a pool and the automatic qualifiers (1 to 12) are drawn into these pools – the remaining spots are then played for by qualifying nations.
Currently they are:
Line 4: Oceania 1, Europe 1, Europe 2, Americas 1
Line 5: Africa 1, Asia 1, Americas 2, Play Off place
24 Nov 2008, 16:14 pm
The most important thing is the knock out matches.
Quarter Final 1: Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A
Quarter Final 2: Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D
Quarter Final 3: Winner Pool A v Runner-up Pool B
Quarter Final 4: Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C
Semi-Final 1: Winner QF1 v Winner QF2
Semi-Final 2: Winner QF3 v Winner QF4
Bronze Final: Loser SF1 v Loser SF2
Final: Winner SF1 v Winner SF2
24 Nov 2008, 16:14 pm
#15 PissAnt: Shouldnt that be 5-8 and 9-12??
24 Nov 2008, 16:17 pm
#17 iori Yagami:
Sorry, of course.
My first beer and I cant count already!
24 Nov 2008, 16:20 pm
What I personally enjoy is the fact that the top 4 are all made up of SH teams.
Meaning the 6N is effectively the 2nd division!!!
And they say the Heineken Cup or Guiness Premiership is better than the S14..
Or that the 6N is more competitive than the 3N…
24 Nov 2008, 16:23 pm
#18 PissAnt: You allowed to drink on the job? lol
24 Nov 2008, 16:25 pm
#20 iori Yagami:
The beauty of what I do for a living!
24 Nov 2008, 16:26 pm
#19 PissAnt: Yip the standard of the Nh has really slipped these past few years. I am glad that Argentina is part of the top 4…it gives them a realistic chance of moving on to the next round. But do you think they will have the neccessary quality in 2011 to be competitive. Most of their 2007 has moved on or will be to old in 2011. i wonder how the new Argentian talent looks?
24 Nov 2008, 16:26 pm
Anycase I am off.
Later.
24 Nov 2008, 16:27 pm
#21 PissAnt: Which is a professional beer taster?
24 Nov 2008, 17:10 pm
There are to many “if’s” for this to be really worth anything but…
If we assume that the ratings don’t change and the top seeded teams in each pool will win both their pools and quaters the semi’s will be:
SF1: SA vs Aus
SF2: NZ vs Arg
Tables might turn with them getting the easy route. How we then will miss the wins from this year’s Tri-Nations.
24 Nov 2008, 19:08 pm
#3 PissAnt: Tell me how Aus cant catch up to us? I am not so sure about this whole rankings. Aus play Wales this weekend and Ab’s playing England. After their wins that is if they win. Their rankings go up. We don’t play anyone this weekend at all so we just stay the same. Then how can the do rankings if we are a game short to the others then? I have no idea. If Oz have a big win this weekend could the go ahead of us even if we are not playing anyone to bring up our ranking?
24 Nov 2008, 19:11 pm
#25 Possie: Sounds like we really messed up then by not beating NZ in the 3nations this year then. We could have had we played a more smarter game in Newlands and we should have beaten Oz in Perth and Durban. We then let ourselves down. Never mind we just have to up our game if we play Oz in the semi final. We can beat them most of the times.
24 Nov 2008, 19:12 pm
#14 iori Yagami: hahahah. They will for sure then have revenge all over them.
24 Nov 2008, 21:28 pm
who cares its only in 2011
25 Nov 2008, 03:03 am
#12 iori Yagami: lot of “off the ball stuff”. Not serious enough to call the police, though.
25 Nov 2008, 03:07 am
#11 PissAnt: I think 2nd pot teams will be drawn at random, no necessary 1st gets 8th etc. Otherwise it’s hardly looking a “draw” because the only real intrigue is who from the top 4 gets who from the 5-8.
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