NZ victory to pip champion Boks, again
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:02
The All blacks have all to play for against Australia in their Tri-Nations encounter on Saturday, including the top spot once again on the International Rugby Board (IRB) world rankings table.
A win in Sydney would also see the Kiwis retain top spot on the Tri-Nations log, setting the perfect start in the first of four 2008 Bledisloe Cup Tests.
The All Blacks currently sit less than eight tenths behind world champions South Africa, having held the number one spot for a week earlier this month after a 19-8 victory over the Springboks in the opening Tri-Nations encounter of 2008 in Wellington.
For a comprehensive explanation of how the points pecking order is worked out, click here for access to our stats partner's rating points exchange calculator.
However a victory for New Zealand over the Wallabies in Sydney will see Graham Henry's side displace South Africa at the top once more, potentially by as much as seven tenths depending on the winning margin at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
A defeat by a similar scoreline to their last meeting in Sydney - when New Zealand won 30-13 in August 2005 - could see Australia lose the rating points they gained from defeating South Africa in Perth last weekend and more, to leave them little more than a point above fourth ranked Argentina.
But were Australia to taste victory in the first of two Bledisloe Cup Tests on home soil in 2008 - and in doing so extend Robbie Deans' unbeaten run since taking charge to five matches - then the top three could be separated by less than 2.5 rating points depending on the margin of victory.
If the Wallabies were to win by 15 points or more then they could actually close to within a few hundredths of New Zealand in second - a position Australia have not occupied since their quarterfinal loss to England in the Rugby World Cup last year.
A consecutive win for the Wallabies against the All Blacks on August 2 could then see the men in gold achieve top spot on the world standings, a position they have never held since the IRB rankings were formally introduced in 2003.
irb.com
