World rankings have always been a topic of debate among fans as to which team is the strongest around the world and where they rank.
This week was no exception, with Ireland catapulted to the top of the table without playing a single minute of rugby at the weekend, all thanks to Los Pumas' win over the former world number one team, the Springboks.
Naturally, many rugby fans were confused as to how a team that has never played a match can rise up the rankings, so here's how it works.
What are the World Rankings?
The world ranking is a points exchange system, meaning that teams compete against each other for points, meaning that the winner gets as many points as the loser loses.
The points system is 0-100, with teams ranked between that number, with the top teams in the world usually falling between 90 and 100. The highest points total ever was achieved by the legendary All Blacks team, who won consecutive Rugby World Cups, reaching a whopping 96.57. The 2024 Springboks reached the second highest points total with 94.86 in July.
All international matches have the same weighting, but the World Cup final carries double points due to the importance of the event.
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Factors that influence points redemption
The system takes several things into consideration when determining the amount of points to be exchanged.
Pre-match rankings: If a higher-ranked team beats a lower-ranked team with fewer points, or in some cases the result is expected and no points are exchanged. However, if a lower-ranked team beats a higher-ranked team, it is considered an upset and more points are exchanged as a result. The greater the difference in rankings, the more impact this aspect has.
Home Advantage: Because there is a clear advantage to playing at home, the system “handicaps” the home team by adding 3 points to their ranking to account for their relative advantage.
Winning margin: If you win by 15 points or more, the exchanged points will be multiplied by 1.5.
So how did Ireland get to number one?
As you can probably tell from reading this, there are often more losses than wins for top-ranked teams and that was certainly the case for the Springboks in round five of the Rugby Championship.
South Africa went into the Santiago test topping the rankings with 93.37 points but Argentina were a sizeable gap behind in seventh place with 82.49 points, meaning there was quite a bit of points exchanged.
Los Pumas recorded an unforgettable 29-28 victory in front of their home fans, costing the Springboks 1.6 points, leaving the world champions in second place behind Ireland on 91.77 points, while Argentina moved up to sixth place on 84.30.
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