lawynd says...

@Capedcrusader - I think that's a little unfair; where's the middle ground? I personally thought the Kiwis showed great character and nerve to win it when they were frankly getting pumelled up front by France, a bit like last weekend's game against Ireland. I'll take nothing away from that win. That doesn't however mean I'm not terribly disappointed by the standard of refereeing in that final, which appeared to hamstring the French at crucial moments. Sometimes teams are lucky with the bounce of the ball, a player losing their footing or a gust of wind; they shouldn't be lucky that the referee bottles key decisions.

Posted 13:17 21st June 2012

jonesy2 says...

jeez the pumas are already coming for england. they will be there by the end of the year at the lastest.

JayStarr, JayStarr, JayStarr what ridiculousness you speak

Posted 07:13 21st June 2012

Oceansnz says...

ah alas, Japan should be trying to hit the top 12 by now, but are behind Georgia. Not good progress me thinks.

@ Planet Rugby; could you post the IRB rankings criteria at the bottom of these articles as time and time again, many people are not sure about why team x are in their position vs team y. Cheers!

Posted 14:03 20th June 2012

Capedcrusader says...

So France come second in the RWC & should have been handed the trophy in a lot of eyes even though they had a poor tournament & are now 7th in the rankings. Thats why Les Bleus don't deserve to be champions they wouls simply cheapen the cup

Posted 10:29 20th June 2012

JayStarr says...

Wow... France in 7th place! Tut tut tut...

Also, how do these rankings work? Is Australia scoring more points because they're beating Wales than SA is scoring for beating England? Because Wales is ranked higher than England?

If so, do you think it's a pure co-incidence that NZ (ranked 1st) is playing the lowest ranked team of the three... and Australia is playing the highest ranked? Or do you think newly IRB appointed John O'Neil is behind that one? Seems like everything in rugby these days is set up to favour Australia.

Posted 15:25 19th June 2012

APV1 says...

Let's hope we do better on Saturday and in the Autumn. We want to be in 4th (or above) for the seedings.

That said, I think they're about right at the moment and reflect where most teams are. 6, 7 and 8 will be contentious, but considering the last RWC, the recent 6N and this SH tour, I think it's about fair.

Posted 12:53 19th June 2012