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South Africa can jump Ireland in World Rugby rankings over weekend
By Ned Lester
There are just two weeks of tests to be played before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in France and still plenty of changes can be made in the World Rugby international men's rankings.
The weekend's slate of games sees tier-one nations from the southern and northern hemispheres clash for the first time since last year's End of Year tours, amongst other mouth-watering fixtures.
South Africa will face Wales in Cardiff, while France host Fiji, Italy host Romania and England travel to Dublin to square off with World No 1 ranked Ireland.
That top spot on the rankings is not guaranteed for Andy Farrell's men though with no points on offer for a win but the potential to drop as low as fourth with a loss.
13 months atop the World Rugby rankings reflects the unbeaten run for Ireland but a loss would guarantee the team surrender their world-best rating to New Zealand while results elsewhere will determine whether France and/or South Africa also overtake the Irish.
Despite the potential jump in the standings, don't expect many South African or New Zealand fans to be cheering the England side on in Dublin. The odds will also be against Steve Borthwick's men as Ireland enjoy a 15-match winning record at their home fortress and have lost just two of their past 38 matches there.
England can only hope to get as high as fifth with a win.
France are in a similar position to Ireland in the sense they have no points reward on offer for a win but if the Springboks are to prevail in Cardiff, Siya Kolisi's side will assume the position of third place, relegating the French to fourth.
Wales face no consequence as far as the rankings are concerned for a loss to South Africa but can improve from tenth to eighth with a win or ninth if Fiji also claims victory.
The biggest winners from the coming weekend may just be the Flying Fijians.
A winning start to the year and to new head coach Simon Raiwalui's tenure has Fiji sitting ninth on the rankings, with the potential to jump Australia to be the highest-ranked team in Pool C come World Cup time.
To achieve this, the Semi Radradra-led team would have to topple France, no mean feat but one the Fijians did accomplish the last time the two nations met in 2018.
Les Bleus currently enjoy a record home-winning streak but the World Cup hosts have lost the services of the influential Romain Ntamack due to a knee injury in their latest win against Scotland.
An Italy win on its own won't see Ange Capuozzo's return rewarded on the rankings but a loss for Georgia would help the Italians move up to 12th.
Georgia play the USA who can overtake Uruguay and potentially Portugal with a win.
A Romanian win over Italy would only benefit the team's rankings if the USA loses.
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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