Rugby World Plate

[didds]

I'm such a boomer.
(For those reading in Australia : I am not a large marsupial)

 

[Jz558]

Keep up, its called SVNS now. Apparently vowels were just a distraction

The indefinite article would surely disagree or should that be Th ndfnt rtcl wld srly dsgr? Maybe this will catch on!

 

[SimonSmith]

Keep up, its called SVNS now. Apparently vowels were just a distraction

Rugby is now its own Only Connect category...

 

[crossref]

WR rule out a plate.

World Rugby to reject plate competition for emerging nations at World Cups

World Rugby is set to reject the idea of emerging nations competing in a ‘plate’ competition running alongside the main event at future World Cups

www.theguardian.com

and a 24 team RWC, with sic pools of four --- so only 3 pool games and then 16 teams all go home again ?


I think I am right that only 25 different countries have ever appeared in a RWC before, so that means pretty much everyone qualifies.

 

[crossref]

meanwhile - let's have a look about RWC are doing to maintain interest in a RWC that is, well, currently a bit boring while we wait for the QFs

 

[Phil E]

meanwhile - let's have a look about RWC are doing to maintain interest in a RWC that is, well, currently a bit boring while we wait for the QFs

Speak for yourself, I have enjoyed every single game I have watched. I haven't found it boring at all?

 

[crossref]

Speak for yourself, I have enjoyed every single game I have watched. I haven't found it boring at all?

there have been a few good games, for sure - but

To date, with one weekend remaining, only six of the 32 pool games in France have involved a margin of seven points or fewer. Unless there is at least one tight game in the final round, this could mean the tournament equalling the lowest figure seen at a World Cup this century.

In 2019 in Japan, there were also six “one-score” pool matches but three fixtures were scrapped because of the disruption caused by Typhoon Hagibis. In 2015 there were seven, while the figures for 2011 and 2007 were 10 and 12 respectively.

Also
- four games have been won to nil.
- ten games have been won by more than 40 points

this weekend Ireland Scotland and Japan Argentina are tasty, but the others are a bit ho hum aren't they?

(and the point of my post was really about how WR's media strategy has been a lot about preventing people from tweeting about the RWC ! )

 

[Phil E]

there have been a few good games, for sure - but

Also
- four games have been won to nil.
- ten games have been won by more than 40 points

I can't speak for anyone else, but I found all of the games to have been extremely entertaining to watch. Even the nils.
There has been some great rugby on show.

 

[didds]

I think I am right that only 25 different countries have ever appeared in a RWC before, so that means pretty much everyone qualifies.

the pre qualification groups include lots of teams that havent appeared in finals though?

2023 Rugby World Cup qualifying - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Volun-selected]

Still pre-caffeinate, please excuse the brain dump.

Not really enjoyed the blowouts as much, hopefully the knockout phase will be tighter.

And quite annoyed by the WR policy to clamp down on video for those sites that normally have access for deeper commentary and analysis. Not sure if it’s just trying to drive all eyes to their app (which it isn’t) or just so they can control the narrative and stop embarrassing/contentious clips being easily shared.

And now they’ve killed the idea of a parallel competition with the BS that “organisers [are] keen not to erect a glass ceiling”. I call it as BS as I feel this will just stop the tier 2 getting more first class matches which they need to help close the gap so WR are maintaining the ceiling.

(And another benefit of that Shield pool is that we would need more refs and ARs which in turn would increase the number of officials with experience managing first class games.)

And final thought for now - Although as of today it is still not a 100% given, unless Portugal shock Fiji or Scotland pull a bonus point win over Ireland we would see Aus and Sco in that mooted Plate pool. Would those teams still want to play?

 

[crossref]

And final thought for now - Although as of today it is still not a 100% given, unless Portugal shock Fiji or Scotland pull a bonus point win over Ireland we would see Aus and Sco in that mooted Plate pool. Would those teams still want to play?

Definitely would be unfortunate if that's your plate QF ! But I suspect that, yes, they'd go for it
In the longer run one of the aims of this idea is to narrow the gulf from the bottom of tier1 to the top of tier2

 

[didds]

And final thought for now - Although as of today it is still not a 100% given, unless Portugal shock Fiji or Scotland pull a bonus point win over Ireland we would see Aus and Sco in that mooted Plate pool. Would those teams still want to play?

I suppose it would maybe give the 2nd stringers of the 33 man squad more RWC action, so maybe THEY would want it?
ON the other hand, maybe if the option was stay in farnce (this time round) for another week/fortnight/three weeks, or return to their clubs ... i colld see the latter being the winner - or maybe the various agreements in place between NGBs and clubs to allow for release would need revisiting etc.

Meanwhile assuming they did play ... its highly likely theyd potentially rack up more large scores against tier 2 and end up in the final of that plate anyway.

 

[crossref]

Maybe they could bite the bullet and just say that 6N and TRC teams not eligible for the plate. I don't think they'd really want to be in it anyway, and neither would players.

 

[Dickie E]

But I suspect that, yes, they'd go for it
In the longer run one of the aims of this idea is to narrow the gulf from the bottom of tier1 to the top of tier2

If the tier 1s wanted to narrow the gap they'd stop poaching tier 2 players

 

[shebeen]

Change is required, not sure 24 teams is going to work with current structure.

I'd separate the tournament from the start. Tier 2 teams have their own league. Winner of that joins the 1/4 final stage.

Whole tournament is strength Vs strength. Current mismatches do nothing for the sport.

 

[didds]

Change is required, not sure 24 teams is going to work with current structure.

I'd separate the tournament from the start. Tier 2 teams have their own league. Winner of that joins the 1/4 final stage.

Whole tournament is strength Vs strength. Current mismatches do nothing for the sport.

wouldnt that just create the mismatch at QF stage though?
where you will by definition have tier 1 v a tier 2 fixtures

?

 

[didds]

Following that through...
the pools draw was makde in decemeber 2020. And it was based soley on rankings at that juncture

At that time these were the top 8 ranked teams
1. South Africa (94.20 points)
2. England (89.49)
3. New Zealand (88.95)
4. France (85.30)
5. Ireland (84.65)
6. Australia (83.08)
7. Scotland (80.82)
8. Argentina (80.31)



And these the next 8 ranked
9. Wales (79.36)
10. Japan (79.29)
<no more rankings easily finadable)


And under THIS scheme, more than likely Both Wales and japan would make the QFs.

while 6 out of the above list wouldnt.

So it would actually be BETTER to be ranked 9 & 10 than anywhere 1-8 with a view to reaching the QFs...

(this is only one simplistic view of hopw sucha split tournament could bve drawn of course. But how else do you decide who is tier 1 and 2 ?)

 

[SimonSmith]

If the tier 1s wanted to narrow the gap they'd stop poaching tier 2 players

We got Tuipolotu fair and square...

Or is that not quite what you meant?

 

[shebeen]

wouldnt that just create the mismatch at QF stage though?
where you will by definition have tier 1 v a tier 2 fixtures

?

Split it at #12. Top 12 fight for 7 qf slots in strength v strength round robin
Second 12 fight for 1 qf slot, against top seeded team from top12 round robin.(could be 6/2 or some hybrid qualification)

The IPL has done well to add in eliminator/qualifier to its knockout format, but not sure it could work as well in rugby due to game turnaround needing to be days longer.

Cricket for instance reduced the 50 over world cup too just 10 teams, the west indies missed out (mainly because they can't get access to all their best players) but it should see a lot more high quality games as it is a straight round robin. Started yesterday, so we'll see soon enough.

Innovation is required here. It seems obvious that the best pool games are tier1 teams against each other. Then followed by the tier2 teams fighting out for the wooden spoon. The upset/close games are very rare. For every Brighton Miracle there are 30 drubbings. I'd expect WR to do a better job than my napkin idea here, but just expanding to 24 will just increase the quantity but not the quality of games. That's lazy

 

[shebeen]

Following that through...
the pools draw was makde in decemeber 2020. And it was based soley on rankings at that juncture

At that time these were the top 8 ranked teams
1. South Africa (94.20 points)
2. England (89.49)
3. New Zealand (88.95)
4. France (85.30)
5. Ireland (84.65)
6. Australia (83.08)
7. Scotland (80.82)
8. Argentina (80.31)



And these the next 8 ranked
9. Wales (79.36)
10. Japan (79.29)
<no more rankings easily finadable)


And under THIS scheme, more than likely Both Wales and japan would make the QFs.

while 6 out of the above list wouldnt.

So it would actually be BETTER to be ranked 9 & 10 than anywhere 1-8 with a view to reaching the QFs...

(this is only one simplistic view of hopw sucha split tournament could bve drawn of course. But how else do you decide who is tier 1 and 2 ?)

World rankings are quite crude as well, but let's say the top 8 qualify a year out. The next 8 play a qualifier a year out for next 4 slots.

Would require global calendar which should be coming anyway.