14 and Counting.

As of the time of writing Wales have been number one in the World Rugby rankings for fourteen days. Having broken New Zealand’s run at the top two months shy of a decade it blows the entire Rugby World Cup open with multiple teams being within a chance of taking that top spot week on week. 

Many in the international rugby community have found Wales’ new found spot atop the rugby world laughable and suggesting that there’s a flaw in the ranking system’s equation when it comes to points allocation. In particular, the All Blacks’ coach Steve Hansen who said the day following their usurpation from the top spot “How do you work that out? We won the Bledisloe Cup last night and lost the rankings. Ask yourself how that works…” A lot of the criticism comes from the fact that Wales have not beaten the All Blacks since 1953 yet they now find themselves above the Pacific Island nation. One such person making this argument is the Vice President of World Rugby Agustin Pichot who claimed it was “ridiculous” as the maths does not take into account how many games are played in a year and the fact that Wales are on a twenty-nine match losing streak to the World Cup holders. I do not give any weight to the argument that Wales should not have the top spot due to not beating New Zealand as you can make that argument about any national team. Wales have never beaten Madagascar over the 80 minutes so why should Wales be ahead of Madagascar in the world rankings? (Madagascar is one of five nations who regard rugby union their de facto national sport, Who knew?)

In my opinion, an opinion that is perhaps maximum 10% influenced by the fact that I am Welsh, Wales fully deserve the recognition as the number one international rugby union team in the world. Having finished second in the 2018 edition of the Six nations they pushed on through the rest of the year not only winning all their summer tour matches but finishing off the year with a nine match winning streak having beaten all comers to the colosseum that they call the Principality Stadium. Easing past the Scottish before breaking our 13 match duck against Australia in a match that was “for the purists”, they then proceeded to score 50 points in one half against a fired up Tongan team. We then extended our winning streak over the Springboks to four matches on the bounce in a hard fought match to round off the year. 

Despite this success they went into the Six Nations as rank outsiders for the championship title let alone the Grand Slam. The Welsh then won a hard fought match against France before teaching the English lessons in patience and composure with a 34 phase try and an impossibly caught high ball for the winner. With a Grand Slam on offer the Welsh put 27 points on a very highly regarded Ireland team that failed to put points on the board until the 83rd minute. With the Grand Slam, Triple Crown and the Six Nations Championship on the mantelpiece Wales took second place in the World rankings along with a 14 match winning streak. 

Eighteen months, eighteen months Wales went without losing a match before losing to the English. A loss we avenged the following week with the win that put us number one in the world. Since the end of the 2017-18 season Wales’ record reads like:

 

Played: 14

Won: 13

Lost: 1

That’s a record not be scoffed at and a record that is the complete opposite of a ‘fluke’ as many pundits have been claiming. Yes, one may get lucky here and there. But you do not get lucky 13 times.

Despite this record many pundits and fans alike still believe that New Zealand should still be at the number one spot as Wales haven’t beaten them on the field. But as this is not boxing you do not have to beat the best to be regarded as the best. New Zealand can lose the World Cup without having played the eventual winner yet no one would complain and demand that the system needs revising. Simply put, Wales have had a better 12 months than New Zealand who have lost to and drawn with South Africa with another defeat coming from the Australians and other from Ireland. Therefore, their 12 month record states: 

 

Played: 15

Won: 11

Lost: 3

Drawn: 1

So not only have Wales won more matches than New Zealand in the space of the year but they have also beaten all three of the teams that their South Pacific rivals have fallen short to having beaten South Africa twice. Go figure.

World Rugby will never find a system that pleases everybody in the rugby community so maybe they should just have some sort of competition in a more or less neutral country where the best rugbying nations can fight it out for a trophy that declares them the best in the world…