Sorry, not wumming, I do not for a second think that Wales are worse than Scotland, but this did make me smile ...
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It was so much easier to blame Them. It was bleakly depressing to think They were Us. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.
No worries, there are lots of problems with the ranking system, particularly how it rewards narrow victories/punishes narrow defeats. it's a guide to recent wins and losses but has less to say about 'quality' (obviously I would say this right now).
Its not that long ago that we were the top team in the world which no one took seriously - except the Daily Fail. Other than sorting out RWC groups, I tend to not care less about these. There is clearly top tier of teams which in no particular order are France, Ireland and South Africa. The New Zealand, and then Australia, Argentina, Wales, Scotland and England.
I do think the rankings are often unfairly maligned. Wales went top in 2019 after winning 15 tests from their last 16 and after the previous top team NZ had lost to lowly Australia (and that Wales team then went on to the semis of the RWC after pushing the winners all the way), so it was hardly unreasonable to have them in the conversation at this point.
At present, most people would agree that Scotland are worse than Wales, but the rankings have a memory longer than the last test series and remember that, while Wales did beat South Africa, they also lost to Italy.
Puja wrote:I do think the rankings are often unfairly maligned. Wales went top in 2019 after winning 15 tests from their last 16 and after the previous top team NZ had lost to lowly Australia (and that Wales team then went on to the semis of the RWC after pushing the winners all the way), so it was hardly unreasonable to have them in the conversation at this point.
At present, most people would agree that Scotland are worse than Wales, but the rankings have a memory longer than the last test series and remember that, while Wales did beat South Africa, they also lost to Italy.
Puja
Puja - all goo logical thinking. With a year to go to RWC, the trick now is for teams to get themselves into the best physical to beat their next opponent.
Worrying about rankings at this stage is pointless. It’s all about winning and gaining momentum.
Puja wrote:I do think the rankings are often unfairly maligned. Wales went top in 2019 after winning 15 tests from their last 16 and after the previous top team NZ had lost to lowly Australia (and that Wales team then went on to the semis of the RWC after pushing the winners all the way), so it was hardly unreasonable to have them in the conversation at this point.
At present, most people would agree that Scotland are worse than Wales, but the rankings have a memory longer than the last test series and remember that, while Wales did beat South Africa, they also lost to Italy.
Puja
I'm not suggesting that the rankings are inaccurate, simply that I don't care.
Puja wrote:I do think the rankings are often unfairly maligned. Wales went top in 2019 after winning 15 tests from their last 16 and after the previous top team NZ had lost to lowly Australia (and that Wales team then went on to the semis of the RWC after pushing the winners all the way), so it was hardly unreasonable to have them in the conversation at this point.
At present, most people would agree that Scotland are worse than Wales, but the rankings have a memory longer than the last test series and remember that, while Wales did beat South Africa, they also lost to Italy.
Puja
I'm not suggesting that the rankings are inaccurate, simply that I don't care.